Sinclair User Magazine Issue 041

August 1985 No, 41

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95 p

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OUR GUIDE TO
COMPUTER
AND CURE

PROGRAMME
FOR PROFIT

WIN A SAGA

GRAPHICS

TABLET

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ter ftccess is growing all tip tirpe, The utilisation
ofbisQ unijs as a system for program storage and
loading is long overdue for the lorrje rriarta it,
ItH Kempston^ compact Disc Interlace
competitive price of only £85.00
i sophisticated storage
are available, to the
honte comdii*
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Contents

MM.M p 5 BBT 5EUMC iPO« HMBAZHH.

EDITORIAL Editor Hill Scolding Deputy editor Jtthn Gilbert Staff writer* Chris Bourne, Clare

Edgdey Designer Craig Kennedy Editorial secretary Norisah Fenn Publisher Neil Wood

ADVERTISING Advertising manager Rob Cameron Deputy advertisement manager I ouise

Fanthurpe Advertisement sale* executive Kalhy McLennan Production a&sislanl Jim

MeClurc Advertisement secretary Linda I-vereSl

MAGAZINE SERVICES Subscriptions manager Carl Dunne

TELEPHONE All departments 01-251 6222

Sinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications

Cover photograph Sheila Rock for Roland Rat Enterprises Ltd.

SOFTWARE

TOP 30 9

Latest software chart toppers

SPECTRUM SOFTWARE 15

Exclusive previews of Juggernaut and
Southern Belle. Find the murderer in
Cluedo, run with Roland Rat and
fight the Bulge, Jet Set Willy II gets
the thumbs down, and Tapper gets a
classic

l«fli

QL HARDWARE 37

John Lambert looks at extra memory
from PCML and tests the Delta disc
interface

SPECTRUM HARDWARE 39

A keyboard upgrade from Transform,
a Microframc disc interface and a load
of Interface III

Roland Rat's Race to fame, page 15

QL SOFTWARE 31

An exclusive dig at QL Gardener, it
flash through MicroAPL and a look at
the QC Compiler

BUSINESS SOFTWARE 69

Stock Manager from OCP for the
KDOS disc system, Decision Maker
from Brainpower, and Classic
Bookkeeping

ADVENTURE 92

Richard Price takes The Helm, plays
Dead at the Controls and undertakes
a classic quest in Dun Darach
HIT SQUAD 96

Bill Scolding defies warnings from the
exorcist and drops in on Legend's
{Complex hideout

It's got to be Gordons Micrvjrame* page 39

■MMiHfflfllUHl

MACHINE CODE 46

Marcus Jeffery pops into the
Spectrum stack and finds a home for
assembled programs
ENTRY POINT 55

John Gilbert continues his series for
Spectrum beginners with a keypad
joystick arcade game

HELPLINE 103

Andrew Hewson struggles with his
flickering attributes

LISTINGS

What ktriv these people gat to laugh about? page 96

PROGRAM PRINTOUT 77

Spectrum turns Shopkeeper and
rotates its characters while the QL
slips some discs in a novel version of
Towers of Hanoi. Try your hand at
educational strategy in Target, and
search for nuclear waste on the sea-bed
in isotopes.

FEATURES

PROGRAMS FOR PROFIT 52

Written any good games recently?
Clare Edgeley shows how to get them
published

MAINTENANCE 60

Wendie Pearson inspects the Mr Fixits
of the repair racket. If you have a
blown Spectrum read on

Advice on Spectrum repain. page ft?

REGULARS

NEWS 5

Maxwell takes over from Sir Clive

MAXWELL SIMON 6

Our hero falls on bad times

ZX WORD 8

QL NEWS 10

Met acumen gets its just reward

LETTERS t1

ZAP CHAT 13

SINCLAIR SURGERY 45

BOOKS 75

A really Capital beginners book

ADVENTURE HELPLINE 89

COMPETITION 101

Win a Saga graphics system

SOFTWARE DIRECTORY 106

Return of the popular index

SOFTWA RE PUBLISHERS 1 09

Round up of program producers

NEXT MONTH 113

GREMLIN 1 14

Latest too-hot-to handle gossip

If you would like to contribute to Situ lait Umr please send programs or articles to:

Sineiair User i EMAP Business & Computer Publications, Priory Court, 30-32 Farringdon Lane, London EOR iAKJ

Original programs should be Ml cassette and articles should be typed, We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addrcssed envelope

is Included.

VFe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.

Typeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, London ECL Printed by Peterboro' Wefa> Woodstone, Peterborough.

Distributed by EMAP Pubbcations Lid, © Copyright 1985 Sinclair Uiet ISSN No 0262- 5458

ABC

Jun-Dcc 1984

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

muM-ii'iiu-mi!.-,!...!.-,,

I tit NUAOI

ERIK THE VIKINGS

Until you've seen the low, low prices in
our Spectrum Club Magazine. Light up
your bank manager's face by getting
Shadowfire for just £5.95 (saving £4),
steal yourself a bargain with Spyhunter at
only £4,95, or grab a Wriggler at
£3.95 (which enables you to enter our
super competition). Need we go on? There
are over 200 more products we could telt
you about.

So what's the catch we hear you say?
How many tapes must I commit to buy in
a year? The answer is none. Once you
have joined our Club, for an annual
subscription of £5.00 you need buy
nothing!

But wait. There's more to this Club than
just the £'s you'll save on software. As a
Member you will receive a bi-monthly
magazine, packed with in-depth reviews
(including lots of screen photos),
competitions to enter, game playing tips
and tots, lots more. Hurry now. If you
apply for membership within four weeks
we will give you a £1 voucher towards
your first purchase. So send off the
coupon now and we'll send you our most
recent Club Magazine by return, tf you are
not absolutely delighted we wiil give you
your money back!

KELVIN HOUSE

TOTTERIDGE AVENUE

HIGH WYCOMBE

HP13 6XG

(0494) 460586

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION SU 8/85

Pledse enrol me as a member of the Mr. Software Spectrum Club, for
which I enclose E5.00' .

I understand you will send me your most recent Club Magazine by return
and that If I'm not completely satisfied after two weeks I can claim a
refund.

Name i a lock caps i

Address

■■ j ' lj ' .......... _..._ . _ . ......., r ,, 1 ,. lll

Postcode... ,

Cheque/ Post aJ Order No

Or change my Access/ Visa account

□□□□□□□□□□□□□aann

<*£& applies to UK & BFPO oniy, Other fates am £7 Europe. £9 USA &
Middle East, C12 Australia, Far East & S, Africa.]

(J Clive - in good hands ?

ENERGETIC entrepreneur
Robert Maxwell has jumped
in where the City fears to
tread and has bought a con-
trolling share of Sinclair
Research. The deal
gives Maxwell,

owner of the Daily Mirrors
75 per cent of the shares in
return for £12m cash. That
money is required to pay off
Tirnex, Thorn EMI and Sin-
clair's bankers.

Sir Clive himself retains
about eight per cent of the
company, and the title of life
president, but he no longer
has a seat on the board.
Instead, he has a five year
contract as technical consul-
tant, to head research and
development at the com-
pany. The C5 company,
Sinclair Vehicles, is not in-
volved in the deal.

Sinclair Research has
been drifting towards the
rocks for months, following
gross over-production at
Christmas. That left the
company with over £30m of
stocks, many of which are
thought to be QLs.

Robert Maxwell appears
to have bought himself a
bargain; only a year ago Sin-
clair Research was valued at
£100m. His first task will be
to find a new chief execu-
tive, to replace Sir Clive.

As for Sir Clive, he claims
to be happy about the situa-
tion. He says his new posi-
tion as life president is
'grandiose but meaningless 11
and stresses that all planned

Who is Robert Maxwell ?

ROBERT MAXWELL, the
new owner of Sinclair Research,
is one of the most colourful
figures in the British business
world. Bom in Czechoslovakia
in 192 J, he was captured by the
Nazis during (he invasion of
France in 1940. He. escaped,
and fled xo Britain, where he
joined the army and later took
pan in the liberation of Europe
in J 944.

He has no formal education,
and his main company, Perga-
mon Press, was founded in
1951, From seven publications,
Pcrgamon is now a largje conv
pany with over 6000 books.

Apart from Sinclair Research
and Pergamon, he also owns
BPCC, a major printing works,
and recently bought the Mirror

Group of newspapers as well as
Oxford United Football Club

Politically, Maxwell Identifies
himself with the Labour party,
and was MP for Buckingham
for six. years. He is still a
mem bcr of the party , although a
controversial one.

Maxwell regards his acquisi-
tion of both Sinclair and the
Mirror Group as patriotic enter-
prises, as well as sound business
investments. In the football are-
na he had to settle for Oxford
United, having failed to buy
Manchester United,

He is also celebrated , or noto-
rious., for the intense personal
interest he takes in his com-
panies. Fleet Street ts full of
tales, many do doubt embroi-
dered, of the results of unex-

pected visits by a mackiniushcd
Maxwell to the jWinw offices.
Although he does not hold the
position of chief executive of
Sinclair Research t as he does at
the Minor, there is no reason to
doubt thai Maxwell will stamp
his personality on the company
as forcefully as on other busi-
ness ventures.

new products will continue
to be developed 'as before 1 ,
It is difficult to believe that
he feels no distress at all at
losing control of his com-
pany j but he has always
claimed to have no interest
in financial matters or in-
deed personal wealth, and as
such may welcome the
opportunity to spend more
time in the laboratory.

"We welcome Maxwell
with open arms," says Joe
Woods, marketing manager
for Terry Blood, the sole
UK distributor of Sinclair
hardware. "It's the best
thing that could have hap-
pened to the industry and to
Sinclair, The company
needed to be managed in a
much more professional way
and you can't get much
more professional than
Robert Maxwell, 1 '

Woods confirms thai the
current distribution deal,
which runs into 1936, still
stands, and that Terry
Blood continues to be 'fully
involved with Sinclair Re-
search.'

Maxwell may not find life
on the high-tech seas all
plain sailing, however.
Acorn, which was bailed out
by Olivetti five months ago
for a similar sum, has once
again asked chat its shares be
suspended, this time at 11
pence. The £12m pumped
in has apparently gone.

The success of Sinclair
Research, therefore, must
depend on new products, if
current sales arc falling. Its
tarlier glories came about
through taking tremendous
risks where conventional
business thought scorned
the whole concept of mass
home computing.

Whether Maxwell is pre-
pared to back such risks
with hard cash in future
developments is a question
which will continue to exer-
cise the industry for many,
many months to come.

more rwwt on page 6

SINCLAIR USER August 198$

Which? report slams C5

A KIT to link two C5 bat-
teries together is to be re-
leased by Sinclair Vehicles
m response t criticism of
the variable range jf the
machine. According to
spokesman Bill Nichols, the
kit will cost in the region of
£35.00, inclusive of the
second battery.

A recent report by con-
sumer organisation Which?
criticised the CS on range,
speed and reliability, Ii sug-
gested that those limitations
did not compare favourably
with a bicycle, given the
price of the C5 — £441.85
with the kit of extras.

On safety, the report said
it was difficult to see in
t raffle and the driver was
vulnerable at bumper
height. It did however
praise the C5 as 'fun and
free of fuss" in the current

CS at twine the ipetd?

driving conditions,

Nichols says the speed is
fixed by the law to allow
drivers without insurance to
use the vehicle. "If we had
produced a faster vehicle,"
he says, "we would have
produced other refinements
as well. We claimed a range
of up to 20 miles, ncu always
that. Tests show the range
to vary widely depending on
traffic conditions, gradients,
and road surface." He says
the new battery kit should
counter criticisms of range,
and that Sinclair Vehicles

was working on the battery
and gearbox.

As for safety, he said
there were no industry stan-
dards for the visibility of
vehicles. Most organisa-
tions, such as the A A and
Department of Transport,
regarded the C5 as "no less
safe than a bicycle". Nichols
stresses that so far only two
accidents with C5s have
occurred, neither, he
claims, involving other vehi-
cles and both "induced by
the driver, with no serious
injury as a result."

A Komplex
solution

HALF-PRICED copies of
Komplex are being offered
to disenchanted owners of
The Great Space Race by
Software house Legend .

If purchasers send back
the poster enclosed in the
package to Legend, together
with a cheque for £4.95 they
will receive a copy of Kom-
plex in return.

Legend chairman John
Peel is worried about the
effect that TGSR has had on
customer support for the
company. "We're making
the offer because we feel
that TGSR failed to live up
to many people's expecta-
tions. The fact that we
actually lost over £200,000
on TGSR is not much con-
solation to people who
bought the game and didn't
like it. We take our custom-
ers seriously.

S I SfCL A I R USER A mttsi J 9*5

News

Wafer-scale venture
may boost Sinclair

THE WAFER-SCALE
chip, which uses a four-inch
disc of silicon to hold the
equivalent power of hun-
dreds of conventional chips,
is almost set for production.
Sir Give Sinclair has
announced the successful
development of a technique
for producing such chips at

a cost and reliability rate
which makes them viable for
mass-production.

Metalab, the high-tech
think tank set up by Sir
Clive over a year ago for just
such developments, appears
to have succeeded firs.t in a
field where research has
been going on for many

Sir CAwe't wafer — on the ngki

years. A spokesman for
Sinclair Research says the
first wafer- scale product, a
solid-state disc drive for the
QL, is still on schedule for
production later this year.

Meanwhile, plans for a
£50m plant to exploit the
new technology have been
shelved by new owner
Robert Maxwell, Instead,
the company is looking for
partners to help develop the
new chip. Under the take-
over deal, Sinclair Research
retains the patent on the
wafer-scale chip, but Sir
Clive is to be allowed to
continue private research on
fifth generation computers,
at his own expense.

In the event of Sir dive's
personal fortune being suffi-
cient to sustain the neces-
sary research, in an area
where companies and gov-
ernments are spending bil-
lions of dollars , Sinclair Re-
search will have a first op-
tion on new products with
Sir Clive retaining the pa-
tents.

Regardless of that,
however, the new chip! if it
lives up to the claims made,
is a genuine technological
breakthrough.

The Spanish
connection

A MAJOR L international
piracy operation, involving
software from Britain's big-
gest software houses, has
been uncovered,

Inforprcss, a Spanish
publishing company , pro-
duces a cassette magazine
which provides its custom-
ers with 10 programs a
month. Those pieces of soft-
ware have included Jet Set
Willy from Software Pro-
jects, Danger Mouse in
Douhk Trouble from Crea-
tive Sparks and Scuba Dive
from Durrell Software.
Other companies which
have had software pirated by
Inforprcss are Gargoyle
Games, Vortex, Mikm-Gen,
Softek and Artie.

Mike Meek of Mikm-Gen
says: "We ^rc sickened that
the industry is being ripped
off in this way. Recently I
have been writing to maga-
zines telling the people
about our experiences of
piracy and trying to get the
trade to take note."

Some software houses are
not so keen to pursue the
issue as they believe nothing
can be done about interna-
tional piracy. A spokesman
for Durell Software says:
"We have been ripped off in
Spain so many times thai
we've lost count."

Kempston takes
DOS for drive

MANUFACTURE of the
SPDOS disc interface, and
all other Spectrum Pro-
duel s, has been stopped by
Watford Electronics. SPDOS
is now produced by Kemp-
ston which has changed the
name to KDOS.

Kempston has reconfi-
gured the package and in-
cluded a Centronics and
joystick port with the 8K
ROM-based operating sys-
tem. Also included is a util-
ity which can transfer tape
software to disc.

Czech deal for Maxwell?

LARGE NUMBERS of
Sinclair machines may soon
find themselves behind the
Iron Curtain. Sinclair Re-
search has been trying to
strike a major deal to supply
computers to Eastern bloc
countries for some months ,
and the recent relaxation of
export regulations on hi-
tech products removes one
of the last hurdles.

The strategy has been en-
dorsed by new owner
Robert Maxwell who, born
in Czechoslavakia, has

strong business links with
the Eastern bloc. He has
decided to personally head
the sales drive, and that
added impetus may well lip
the balance in favour of an
advantageous deal.

The move is clearly an
attractive way of clearing the
£30m stocks of unsold com-
puters and televisions which
brought Sinclair Research to
its knees in the first place.
Maxwell is not particularly
worried about the silicon
mountain he has acquired.

"I don't think the stocking
is so horrendous," he says.
"We have a chance of selling
some to the USSR and Bul-
garia providing we don't
break the rules."

The Russian market looks
particularly attractive. The
Soviet Government has
grandiose plans to introduce
computers into all its
schools; a contract on that
scale is surely a mouth-
watering prospect for any
home computer company.

mem news on page 8

SINCLAIR USER August 1 985

News

The winning formulae

QMNIBOT robots aad Ultimate goody
bags were won by S Bowdcn of Hayes,
Middlesex;, Jeffrey Guv of Latham, Lan-
cashire and Neil Gidjnan of Stoke-on-
Trent, Staffordshire in our May Ulti-
mate ewmpetiuori.

The seven runnm-up. wlio ilso re-
ceived goody hags, were: Stephen
Cbown, Seafurd, East Sussex; Neil Wal-
ker, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear;
S Miles, Merseyside, Wural; W Arm-
Hfong. Hmi^htfin-le-SpriiJs, Tyne and
Wear; A Were, Gowtey, Oxfordshire;
K Pridmort, Ankby, East Yorkshire;
and TrUlM Kay«, Reading, Berkshire.

The 100 winners of the Formula One
compeiiiion in the June issue were:
Bruno Grahpa d Vsxese, Italy j Ufcolini
Gabriel*, Roma, Italy; C A Man in,
Hxyward* Heath, West Sussex l Guy
Corvexs., Berinaen, Belgium; Marie
MuXilly, Reading, Berkshire, Mark
Nunc, TFiihcrsea, East Yorkshire;

A O'Cnnnetl, Liverpool L25; Barry

Lennm, Raby Mere, Merseyskle; Paul
Drysdale, Kirkcudbrightshire, Sew-
lacd; Stephen Biacldetlge, Kendal,
Cmnbria; Ian Much, Chellasiori,. Der-
by; Ian Grant, Watford; 1 Brett, Burton -
ofl-Trent, Staffordshire; David Brown,
London SMFl; K Ridley, Holywcmd,
County Down: DRWhiitalL. Chrisi-
church, Dorset; A D Kenning*. Crow-
thorne, Berkshire; Alex Graham, Clif-
ton., Bedfordshire; 1 Dnf, Dunbarton-
shire, Scotland; Michael Faulder, Cock-
ennouth, Cumbria; Matthew Stone,
Didsbury, Manchester; A Walton,
Fartiwarth, Bolton; Peter Duggaji,

Romford, Esses; Colin John Hay, Rum-
lord, Esses; Chris Dickson, MiddLes-
brouRh, Cleveland; S Holt, Rn5«nd«le,
Lancashire; Graham White,, Ingates-
tfloe. Eases; D J Stew, Witney, Dtfnrd-
shire; P W Glecd, Cowley, Oxfordshire;
K Alexander, Murden. Surrey; P Bas-
neit, Wallasey, Merseyside; Robert
Hall, Witney, Oxfordshire; D Bevjng-
ton Smith, Parley, Surrey: Kan Wai
Wong, GilliBiahiin, Kenl; Nigel Rae,
Lanark:, Scotland; Robert Vogt, Ayles-
bury, Buckinghamshire; Avril Green-
land, Hammersmith, London W6; Juao
Ftlipe Fafcao Roque, Goimbra, Portug-
al; Hani Abu Rahmeh, London SWl;
Robert Jejj, Dundee, Scotland; Edward
Stun, Beverley, North H umberside;
Shane Parker, Bristol, Avon; Karl
McConaack, Stafford- Mavnard Paton,
Doncasrer, South Yorkshire; Geretnt
Jones, Khonddu, South Wain;
G R Dormer, Kozcai, North Hamp-
shire; C Gibbs, Cheshunt, Hertford-
shire; K Welbom f Knaresborough,
North Yorkshire; P Dobson, Harrogate,
North Yorkshire; Dean Spencer, Noi-
tingham; Aaron Warbuton, Beliasu P C
Inskip. Kings winford. West Midlands;
Chi Wall Vau, London NWI;
A P Hooper, Taunton, Somerset;
W Kemp, Westerham, Kent; James
Turner, Oakwood, Derby; G Zentner,
Ha/efiran, Jerusalem; Andrew Watson,
Woodthorpc, Yorkshire; Adrian Lright-
oti, Felstcd, Essejt; A J Logic Campbetl,
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire; Haydn
Psdmore, Woodlesford, Ijeeds; Karina
Bale, London SWl 5; Stuart Barrick,

Norwich. Norfolk; W C Erith, Camber
ky, Surrey; Paul Barr, Hull; Mask
Chung, I^venshultne, Manchester; Bar-
ry Haddow, Alva, ClatkEnarmshire;
Jonathan Atigeloni, Swansea, West Gla-

nwrpin; Peter Phelps Jones, Leeds;
G Ward, Reuie, BFPO 24; Ian Doggett,
Kirtum, Ipswich; David Stagg, Biggin
Hill, Kent; Martin Johansson, Hjo,
Sweden; W H Grauman*, Haacht, Bel-
gium, John Stephenson, Church Strel-
ton, Shropshire; P J Irwin, Chiswick,
London; Robert Whinaker, Dunboynt,
County Mcath, Ireland; KC Grove,
RAF Laarhruch, BFPO 43; Robert
Morris, Croydon, Surrey; Michael
Grove, Warleya, West Midlands;
M White, Bath, Avon; I J Grayson,
Banstead, Surrey; Mr T Irwin, Bristol;
Paul O'Ncil, Worsley, Greater Manches-
ter; Paul Carson, Ashford Common,
Middlesex; NP Gardner, Stroud,,
Gloucestershire; Hawl Joy Hart, Beek-
enham, Kent; E Goodman, Barnslcy,
South Yorkshire; tan Calderbank, Hud-
dtrstield. West Yorkshire; James E
Taylor, Oldham; Paul Sadler, Ipswich;
R Van der VHs, Haarlem Holland; Lee
Smith, South Nuifteld, Surrey; Gareth
^llhims, Ruthin. Clwyd; Atirtair
Verheijea, Wiml, Merseyside; Martin
Donnelly, Edinburgh; Jeff Bate. Lon-
don SW| 5; P Kelly, Doncester; Peter
£ammitl, Wirral, Merseyside; S P E-
vans, Sekly Oak, Birmingham,

All receive copies of Formula One
from CRL, The winner of the Grand
Pria video cassette is A Quinn of Red-
ditch, Worcestershire.

Hackers in
the dock

ROBERT Schifrrcn, 21, of
Edgware, north London and
Stephen Gold, 29, of Shef-
field have been charged with
a further nine counts under
Section 1 of the 1981
Forgery and Counterfeiting
Act.

Appearing at Bow Street
Magistrates Court un June
12 to answer two accusa-
tions, each involving alleged
unauthorised entries into
Prestel computers, the pro-
secution announced a furth-
er five charges against Schif-
reen and four against Gold,

Both men own Spectrum
computers and were first
arrested last March — see
June's Sinclair User. Bow
Street magistrate R BartJc
again put the defendants on
unconditional bail and re-
manded the case until July 4
to give the defence lime to
prepare its case.

ZXWORD byHenry

Howarth

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4. Not a. straightforward addressing; mode (8)

8, Token MPs form joystick company (8)

9. ADA rate a misfit with place for information i4,4j

10. Address to a 'Blues' gathering? (8}

1 1 . Lucky opportunity for reset key (5)

12. Sort of storage measured in kilograms (4)
Fraction of hen 64 ( Q )
Load a Z80 mnemonic (2)
BBC monitor? (2)

Consistency of laser fight sources (9)
Jump over instructions in a large bo* (4)

22. A pornographic one could be nast\

23. Cyclic binary system sounds like dull programming
(4,45

It's processed in i dry run (4,4)
King or me to form WalJy's label (8)
See five, we hear, for example (8)

]4,
IS.
17 H

l«.
2L

14
26.

27.

Down

1. It could be CjtNcrty, in an upper sort of ease (.8.)

2. Temporarily stores on reels of tape (d)

3. What a well written program must be (10)

4. Addressing mode found in the back of the hook by the
editor (7}

5. Matrix element on the printer? (3)

6. Ear rated poorly for access speed (4,4)

7. Axe College of Further Education plan for teletext (.6)
13. Performance tests for hardware or software (10)

16. Not a foreign market for home computers, perhaps (8)

17. Tiddlcs plays with knobs in the west (8)

19. Finish to chess encounter? (3,4)

20. Sort of programming which follows a straight line (6)

21. hurt of track insect originated (6)

25. Initialised analogue to digital converter f3)

Solution m page 1 10

SINCLAIR USER August W8S

New releases

RUPERT, that trendy bear
in yellow-check trousers,
has made ir to the computer
screen. Join him in search of
a riotous night in Rupert
and the Toymaker's party
from Quicksilva. Out in Au-
gust at £7.95.

US Gold is to launch Pole
Position . Licensed from
Atari, it will be in the shops
this month for £7.95,

Melbourne House is
bringing out a number of
games. Terrormolinos is a
graphic adventure about the
trials of a Spanish package
holiday. Full of greasy chips
and screaming kids, it sounds
fun and will be out in Au-
gust for £7.95.

Mugsy's Revenge follows
the success of Mugsy and is
an adventure. Ii should be
available in September at
£7.95.

Marsport from Gargoyle
is the first in a trilogy in
which you have to retrieve
secret plans from an aban-
doned spaceport on Mars.
Look out for it in September
at £9.95,

Firebird is to release two
games — Cyiu for the Silver
range at £2.50 in August and
Elite for the Gold range
possibly in September.

Cyiu sounds very similar
to Ultimate's Men 8. Elite
is a simulation combat and
trading game in which you
must voyage through eight
galaxies and 2000 planets in
your space ship.

The Secret Diary of
Adrian Mole aged l3 3 /t is
now a computer game.
Programmed by Level 9 for
Mosaic, you must help
Adrian work out the prob-
lems which crop up in his
young but complicated life.
To be released in September
H £9:95.

From Silversoft comes
Baal — an arcade adventure
with similar graphics to
Alien 8 (again?). Baal, an
apprentice devil must prove
his worth before being
allowed to steal souls from

earth. Work your way up
the levels to get out of hell,
Baal will be out in August
for around £9.00.

Silversoft is also releasing
Greatest Hits for £7 95 — a
compilation tape containing
Orbiter, Ground Attack,
Worse Things Happen at
Sea and Hyperaction.

Boxing games have taken
the software houses by
storm. Roeco, from Grem-
lin sounds very similar to
Punch Out!! the arcade
game and follows close on
the heels of Frank Bruno's
Boxing by Elite. Roeco is
available for £7.95,

Monty on the Run to be
released in October for
£7.95, continues the saga of
the accident-prone mole.
Help Monty escape to Brazil
by getting him to the port
before the ship sales.

Blade Runner from CRL
is based loosely on the film
and arcade game. Protect
civilians in the crowded
streets by destroying
androids. It will be out in
August for £8.95.

Seiclone from Hewson is
an adventure space movie
played in a similar way to
Dragon tore. Solve prob-
lems while battling with the
Seiddabs to gain control
over them. Seiclone will be
out in early October at £7.95

Mikro-Gen has come up
with a box of tricks which
will overwrite the Spectrum
ROM and enhance the
memory by 50 percent. The
hardware will hold part of
the program and also the
tape loading routine. Sha-
dow of the Unicorn will be
the first to use the hardware
and will be launched at the
PCW show in September for
£14,95. It is a role playing
adventure in which you con-
trol 10 characters.

Elite is to bring out Inter-
national Basketball at the
end of this month for £5.99.
Stay in control of the field
and learn to pass and handle
the ball with your team.

1

SOFT AID

QUICKSILVA/VARIOUS

2

SPY HUNTER

US GOLD

3

WORLD SEMES BASEBALL

IMAGINE

4

STAMON

MELBOURNE HOUSE

5

SHAD0WHRE

BEYOND

E

o FINDERS KEEPERS

MASTERTR0NIC

7

ottUCf L£E

US GOLD

a

o EVERYONE'S A WA11Y

MIKRO-GEN

9

o ROCKY HORROR SHOW

CRL

10

o FORMULA ONE SIMULATOR

MASTERTRDNIC

11

o DEATH STAR INTERCEPTOR

SYSTEMS

12

,-> DRAG0NT0HC

HEWSON CONSULTANTS

13

^ MOON CRESTA

INCENTIVE

14

RAID OVER MOSCOW

US GOLD

IS

o GYR0N

FIREBIRD

16

■ -■ MINDER

DKTRQNICS

17

o GREMUNS

ADVENTURE INTERNATIONAL

IB

& BOOTY

FIREBIRD

19

o CHUCKIE EGG II

A&F

20

o HERBERTS DUMMY RON

MIKRO-GEN

21

o QA1EY THOMPSONS DECATHLON OCEAN

n

o MATCH DAY

OCEAN

23

<i TAPPER

US GOLD

24

oALBtl

ULTIMATE

25

o GRAND NATIONAL

ELITE

26

o MANIC MINER

SOFTWARE PROJECTS

27

o CHILLER

MASTERTRONIC

■

& STARSTRIKE 3D

REALTIME

29

O DUN DARACH

GARGOYLE

30

a BRIAN JACKS CHALLENGE

MARTECH

SINCLAIR t'SER August MS

= QL News

QL beats the field

THE MICROCOMPUTER
of the Year is the QL,
according to the judges of
the British Microcomputer
Awards,

The award was accepted
by Sir Give Sinclair who
received a standing ovation
at a ceremony in London,
arranged by Thames Televi-
sion, the Sunday Times and
VNU Publications, He also
picked up the VNU Educa-
tional Award for the Spec-
trum version of Logo, prog-
rammed for Sinclair Re-
search by LCSL

Psion chairman David
Potter also received a trophy
when the Psion bundled ex-
change packages for the QL
won the Thames Home
Software Award, Matthew
Gaved of Psion commented
ecstatically: "Fantastic,

marvellous. We are very,

very pleased. It is good news
for Sinclair and it shows that
the QL is still alive and
well."

The company has recently
shown its continued support
for the QL with the launch
of Match Point. The game
is a conversion of the best-
selling Spectrum tennis
simulation.

Also 3 a new version of
Archive is to be made avail-
able. Called the Archive

Runtime Module it is a
stripped down version of the
original which will compile
data manipulation programs
written in its own Super-
Basic derived language.

Psion believes that the
new version of Archive will
mainly be used by software
houses who want to compile
routines for the program. It
will, however, also be avail-
able on the consumer
market.

Jir Clive, lit up u>iih dehghi

Boo for Basic

A COMPLAINT regarding
Super Basic has earned a re-
buke for Sinclair Research
from the Advertising Stan-
dards Authority,

It said Sinclair could not
claim its QL language to be
"the most powerful Basic
ever devised*.

Printing
in protocol

A HARDWARE system
which makes the QL com-
patible with any type of
printer has been launched
by A Line Dataspeed Ser-
vices.

The company offers a
Protocol converter which
connects virtually any type
of computer to any printer.
It does not matter whether
the printer uses serial, para-
llel or IEEE-488 standards.

More information can be
obtained from A Line
Dataspeed Services Ltd, 3
Auburn Road, Blaby,
Leicester, LES 3DR.

Pascal makes the grade

A PROUD Metacomco has
just received its ISO valida-
tion certificate for the Pas-
cal development kit.

The ISO standard is
closely adhered to by manu-
facturers of major business
software publishers. It is
something of a coup for the
Metacomco package to be
included amongst those
which are acknowledged as
meeting the standard.

A spokesman for the com-

pany says, "We have sold
500 packages so far, which is
good considering the state of
the market. We arc also
thinking about special pro-
ductions for universities.
We may give educational
establishments 30 or 40 per
cent reductions,"

Sinclair User was the first
magazine to point out the
outstanding quality of the
Metacomco package in its
Classic review in July.

The future
operation

THE OS -9 operating sys-
tem, capable of turning the
QL into the equivalent of a
high speed mini computer,
is on the way courtesy of
disc drive manufacturer
Cumana.

OS-9 will be available as a
hardware add-on in Septem-
ber, with QL compatible
disc drives and interface.

Clive Martin of Cumana
says, "We see OS-9 as being
the operating system of the
future for both the QL and
the BBC microcomputer."

Planned software for OS-
9 includes word processors,
databases, a fast version of
Basic and a C compiler.
Cumana also plans to add
hard disc; on the hardware
front, Martin comments,
"The whole system will be
very Unix-like".

A data sheet on the disc
drives and operating system
is available from Cumana,
The Pines Trading Estate,
Broad Street, Guildford,
Surrey, GU3 3BH.

Drive to win

HYPERDR1VE is the first
QL motor racing game.

The package is to be laun-
ched by the English Soft-
ware Company. It features
3D perspective graphics,
five levels of play, sound
effects and a joystick control
option.

Basic compiler arrives

A FULL SuperBasic com-
piler, priced at around
£80.00 is the latest in a range
of products announced by
Digital Precision,

The two-pass optimising
compiler, which will work
on all versions of the QL
starting with AH, provides
facilities found on few other
such products. Most in-
teresting is its ability to opti-
mise execution times of the
object code when it has been

compiled from SuperBasic.
Tony Tebby's Toolkit

commands are also sup-
ported. The compiler will go
one better than SuperBasic
by supporting a nine digit
numeric format instead of
the usual seven f

Freddy Vaecha of Digital
Precision says, "We believe
that the compiler is a market
beater. At the moment wc
regard Psion Chess as being
number one in the QL

charts but the compiler will
replace it in that slot."

Other Digital Precision
products due for release are
an astrology program and
two arcade games. Vaecha is
pleased with the astrology
software: "It uses astro-
nomy calculations and pro-
duces a detailed character
analysis".

All products from Digital
Precision should be avail-
able at the end of August,

10

SINCLAIR USER AugMtmS

Letters =

Putting Denton's
record straight

HAVING read the article
about Denton Designs in
your July issue, there are a
few points I would like to
make.

Firstly, in 12 months,
with a quarter of Imagine's
programming Staff, they
have produced more and
better products than Im-
agine did in it's last 12
months. This would seem to
indicate that when at Im-
agine they were grossly mis-
managed, and/or working
for themselves has spurred
them to greater produc-
tivity.

Secondly, whilst I
appreciate Steve Cain saying
that I have calibre, I do not
understand his reference to
'cock ups ! . At Imagine I was
in charge of sales and
marketing, which are gener-
ally regarded as having been
Imagine's strengths. Denton
does not have sales or
marketing because they rec-
ognise their lack of ability in
these areas; that is why
Beyond and Ocean do it for
them. Steve Cain is not
qualified to pass comment
on my skills, just as I am not
on his skills,

Thirdly, it is refreshing to
find that Denton Designs
has inherited Imagine's lack
of false modesty.

To conclude, I wish Den-
ton Designs and all who
work there, the best for the
future. Their skills and ori-
ginality are what this market
needs and make a happy
change from the plagiarized
junk produced by many
people.

Bruce Everiss,
Wirral, Merseyside
# The comments made by
Steve Cain of Denton Designs
in respect of Bruce Everiss' s
capabilities as a sates and
marketing director are not en-
dorsed by the editorial staff of
Sinclair User. We apologise

to Bruce Everiss for any in-
convenience and embarrass-
ment caused.

I HAVE just read the Hit
Squad interview with Den-
ton Designs July 1985. I
believe the paragraph detail-
ing programs written by
Denton Designs to be mis-
leading.

In the list of games given
you include World Series
Baseball, The Spectrum
version of the game was not
written by Denton Designs,
but by Platinum Produc-
tions for Imagine '85, which
is owned by Ocean.

David Anderson,

Platinum Productions,

Kilwinning, Ayrshire

Rating scores
no points

I HAVE always relied on the
Gilbert factor when buying a
game. Now I find you have
changed to star ratings. Gil-
berts are much better,
please bring them back.

As to David J Anderson's
totally despicable letter
against women reviewing
games — May 1985. Your
interviews have not been
'scraping the barrel'
although I would like to see
an ACG interview.

Max Schaefer,
London SVV11

Take up thy
C5 and run

LET US hope your com-
ments - Adventure, July -
concerning the copyright
hassles that Delta 4 hope to
avoid by 'changing the
names and aims' in their
game Bored of the Rings
are well founded,

I feel sure that some of the
Harvard Lampoon team
which published the original
Bored of the Rings might

recognise the work as a copy
of their own,

I look forward to being
informed that (a) it is all
Delta 4's work^and coinci-
dences do happen; (b) it was
an oversight and they
thought the book would be
mentioned: (c) you enjoyed
reading the book; or (d) who
cares what the yanks think
and I can take a running
jump.

P J Bird,
Northfield,
Birmingham
# The correct answer is (d).
The game is a spoof of Tol-
kein's Lord of the Rings with
all names and places changed
and not a copy of the Amer-
ican book. Apparently, the
title is not copyright.

Lampooning
a copyright

I WOULD like to reply to J
Talbot and J Paton - June,
letters - who criticised my
earlier letter about the C5. I
can't believe J Paton staring
that the lack of cycle paths is
to blame. You don't build
an aeroplane and wait for
someone to build a runway!
The CS is also too easy to
steal. All you have to do is
hop in and off you go. If you
want a faster getaway then
try picking it up and run-
ning with it under your arm.
Dietmar Osman,
Farnham, Surrey

Take two for a
Tasword count

I WAS interested in your
article Customising your
Word Processor t May, Sinc-
lair User.

I attempted to introduce
into my Tasword the Word
Count, resulting in a crash-
ed program.

Philip Muston,
Richmond, Surrey
• THE MOST common
problem with the Word
Count routine is once you
have saved the code to tape
you should load Tasword,
add the additional Basic and
enter CLEAR 31940 as a
direct command before load-
ing the word code. To call
the routine RUN Tasword,
go m the STOP menu and
press W.

To display the word count
option in the menu, alter lines
25 to SO. Those vary accord-
ing to which version you own.

The header , in listing 4,
should be put in line 270 with
the REM removed and the
REM in line 294 should be
removed to print the footer.

In line 220 the FN in the
second statement is a
Keyword, reached by going
into E mode, holding symbol
shift and pressing 2. For clar-
ity you could also alter the
middle of line 200 to read:
LET a$= "Text Lines per
Page( f ';PEEK31940rr:

No peace study bias

I AM disappointed by two
things in your June issue
which seem based on ill-
considered statements.

The first was the infer-
ence by Gremlin that
Ronald Reagan is about to
start a nulear war. Surely
that is too trite.

More serious was Theo
Wood's claim about peace
studies. What is 'unbiased 1
about teachers wearing
CND badges while teaching
the so called peace lessons?

I am pro Mr Reagan and
Mrs Thatcher but would not

seek to dismiss their oppo-
nents with a couple of off-
the-cuff remarks.

Michael J King,
Bentley Heath, Solihull
• Theo Wood did not use the
word * unbiased' and made no
references to CND badge-
carrying teachers. She did,
however, say thai the program
"is informative without being
biased. "

Gremlin made no suck in-
ference about Reagan's itchy
trigger finger. Your right-wing
paranoia is obviously working
overtime, Ed.

SINCLAIR USER August I9S5

11

-" i - J -ll -■ ■

:"

:::

" :

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL QL OWNERS

bad or changed medium

Your data is worth a lot to you. Source programs, text, scientific information, records, an
represent hours of your time and effort. Losing a file could at worst cost you money - and if s
always infuriating!

No storage medium is 100% reliable. Thafs why TALENT has developed the CARTRIDGE
DOCTOR. If s a sophisticated machine code program which will, in most cases, enable you to:

• recover files from a bad medium

• recover files which have been accidentally deleted

• recover files with lost or damaged blocks using the "block patch" utility-

Ifs very easy to operate and no knowledge of BASIC or machine code is required.
Can YOU afford to be without the CARTRIDGE DOCTOR?

Available only from:

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+ 50p postage & packing

QL is a Registered Trade Mark of Sinclair fiesearch

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COMPUTER SYSTEMS

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Tel: 041-5522128 (ACCESS & VISA accepted)
SOFTWARE FROMSC0TLANO

I

IT'S 1985 — THE YEAR
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Why buy programmes for your Spectrum when a world of free

'lelesoftware' is open to you. Discover Prestei, Micronet 800,

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A whole new world of mainframe games, electronic mail, free 'telesoftwane'. electronic"

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hour's entertainment.

Spectrum 16V 48k, Spectrum + The VTX 5000 Modem comes complete with all the software

(in ROM) required to access the world of electronic communications, networks, telesoftware end databases

(both public and private.]

(User to user software on cassette £3,95 extra!

Terminal Emulation Software Package to link to commercial databases and bulletin boards which use ASCII

format on cassette C6.96.

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Only one lead links your computer to the Dutside world.

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This offer applies only while stocks last.

12

SINCLAIR USER August 198$

When the body
can't take it

THE INFINITE lives poke
for Fantastic Voyage —

July 1985 — needs correct-
ing. Change CLEAR 30791
to 30719.

When the body overheats,
stop the infections with the
following program.
10 CLEAR 30719
20 LOAD 'VOYACiE'
CODE

30 POKE 54492,0: REM inf
lives

40 POKE 54227,0: REM
stop infection
50 BORDER
60 PRINT USR 53248

Does anyone know where
the seventh piece is?

Timothy Smith,

Grays,

Essex

Getting Gilligan
down the mine

I HAVE recently purchased
Soft Aid which contains
Gilligan s Gold and find the
game addictive and enjoy-
able. If any one is having
problems* follow these in-
structions.

Picking Up
Position Gilligan in front of
the object, facing it. Press
the Action key. Gilligan
should pick up object. If
not, try the process again in
a slightly different position.
To drop, press the Action
key.

Using Pit Bus
Stand under a black arrow
when bus route is clear.
Press Action key and you
should hang horizontally.
When pit bus is directly
under you press the Action
key. You should drop down
into the bus. If you miss try
again. To get off, press left
or right or if there is a
ladder, up or down.

Pushing Wheelbarrow
Stand, facing the barrow so
that Gilligan's hand is on the

handle. Press the Action key
and push the barrow where
you like. To drop the bar-
row, press Action key.

Richard Newell,

Shrewsbury,

Shropshire

Endless lives
are bootiful

HERE ARE some infinite
lives for Booty. Type in the
program then load as
normal.

10 BORDER 0: PAPER
0: INK

20 CLEAR 26870

30 LOAD "•■ SCREEN!

40 BORDER 0: PAPER
0: INK

50 PRINT AT 19,0:
LOAD "" CODE 26880

60 RANDOMIZE USR
26880

70 POKE 58294,0

80 RANDOMIZE USR
52500

Darren Hutchinson,
Pitalpin, Dundee

Station's role
in history

HAVING trouble working
out some of the anagrams
and dates in Station?

In sector one, the first

anagram is Bible and the

date h 1968; the second is

EEC in 1957. The next is

Diamond and dates from

1897 and lasdy, Relativity

with a date of 1905. I hope

those help you on your way.

Julian Marshal],

Abingdon,

Oxforshire

Rigging the
records . . .

HERE IS the format of the
62 byte service record and a
method to create your own
fake record for those
wishing to play Psytron on

all six levels.

Bytes 1-23 your name;
Byte 24 header (202); Bytes
25-60; 36 bytes of score
information, for each of the
six levels, five previous
scores and the average score;
Bytes 61-62 checksum of
bytes 25-60.

The following program
will create a service record
of 99 per cent for each level ,
10 FOR N - 33001 TO
33023

20 POKE N 3 66
30 NEXT N
40 POKE 3302432
50 FOR N = 33025 TO
33060

60 POKE N.99
70 NEXT N
80 POKE 33061,236
90 POKE 33062,13
100 SAVE 'TAKE" CODE
33001,62

Run this program but do
not start your tape for the
SAVE until the first bloc —
Spectrum header — has
been sent. You now have a
service record which you
can load to play at any level .
Colin and Roger Bennett,
Madrid, Spain

Escape from
the Sidhe . . .

IF YOU ARE having trou-
ble getting past Stdhe
Olcweed and those nasty
faces in Tir Na Nog, press
key 6 once you have been
killed to return to the menu.
Pressing 1 returns you to
where you were — you can't
move straight away but you
are alive and well.

Chris McGrail,
Mosto rough* Sheffield

Pitch bugged
on Match Day

I WOULD like to point out
some bugs in Ocean's
Match Day.

When the ball is kicked
by a player towards a goal-
post, it sometimes appears
to rest against the post and
neither player can move it.

If a player scores just on
half time or full time, the
clock carries on for 90 mi-
nutes before the match res-
tarts and then the clock goes
haywire and returns to zero.

Sometimes the players
can run around with their
hands in the air after a goal
even when scored by the
opposition.

Steven Knott,

Stockport,

Cheshire

Sick as the
proverbial . . .

I CLAIM to be Britain's
worst Match Day player. I
got beaten 15-0 on amateur
the first time I played it. A
few games later I was beaten
9-0. I've got better now, but
my friend beats me every
time. Robert Looker,

Eastkigh,
Hampshire

Monty champ
of the world

I CLAIM to be champion at
Monty is Innocent. I com-
pleted it in one minute, 14
seconds,

Tony Winterbottom,

Penzance,

Cornwall

Kicking the Ninja

WHILE PLAYING Bruce
Lee I noticed a nasty bug
when Bruce arrives at the
frame with three boxes —
one holding the correct
route, the other, two red
herrings. If the first box is
selected, you will be pre-
sented with a frame that has
three Levels and two doors.
It you open the door on the

lowest level* never kick or
punch the Ninja so that he
falls into the doorway. That
causes the computer to lock
up.

My final score is
1,314,900 with 15 falls re-
maining.

Philip Bond,

Bany,

South Glamorgan

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

U

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14

SINCLAIR USER August I99S

Spectrum Software Scene

SINCLAIR USER Classics are prog-
rams which, in our biased and
eccentric opinion, set new stan-
dards in software. They are the
programs by which the others
should be measured. If you buy no

other software, buy these. No self-
respecting Sinclair user should be
without them.

Software reviews carry a star
rating, the basis of which will be
value for money. Programming,
graphics, speed, presentation,
addictive qualities and the rest are
taken into account.

Guide to ratings

***** 24 carat. Buy it

**** Value for money

*** Nothing special

** Over-priced

* A rip-off

ROLAND RAT, Superstar, re-
nowned for talking the boom off the
speed of sound t has forgotten to set his
alarm clock. He is late for his regular
appearance on TV -AM.

The sewers in which he lives, with
buddies Kevin and Errol, are also in-
habited by mutant wellie boots which
stomp their way up and down the
levels, kicking everything out of their
way. Roland finds that a pain in the
tail, and arms himself with a rubber
glue gun, which can be filled with glue
pots scattered around the levels. The
glue puts the wellies into a sticky
situation and he needs gallons of it to
get to the studio door.

To open the door and join Nick,
Anne and Wincey he has to collect
pieces of glow-in-the-dark material,
tine bit at a time, and fix it to the door.
He must then collect the key and fit it
into the lock for die grand finale.

To further complicate matters there
are two sewer levels. If Roland finds a
downward arrow on the first level he
ean travel to the underground system.

The tubes rattle by frequently but
Roland, unperturbed, walks

Roland has had no breakfast. He must
get by on a diet of Big Macs and crisps
which will boost his energy level .

The game relies heavily on the play-
er's identification with Roland, and
those who are not enamoured with the
Superstar might find that play can be-
come monotonous after more than 30
minutes, although the C5 trundling
across the top of the screen with the
other rush hour traffic provides some
light relief.

The various screens look deceptive-
ly similar, and map-making is essen-
tial if Roland is to avoid running
around in circles.

The graphics, while not outstand-
ing, are smooth and fast. The scroll
from one room to another is particu-
larly impressive.

Roland's Rat Race will be of in-
terest to rai fans everywhere.
Although he is not his usual verbal
his rambling computer
adventure? give a new^
meaning to

cuteness on the arcade screen

In the final analysis, is it good fun?

Yeah! lokn Gilbert

side of the track avoiding the danger.
It luck is on his side he will find a
black door into which the glowing
pieces of puzzle can be fitted. He must
be fast, however, as the time ticks
slowly onward and the show will soon
be over.

Finding the pieces is hard work and

SINCLAIR USER August 198S

13

Highway
Encounter

THE ORDERLY advance of the
aliens to destroy civilisation as Slugger
would like it to be, is given a new twist
in Highway Encounter from Vortex.
The aliens stick to the main road, and
your job is to ferry the lasertron to
their base where it will obliterate the
nasties.

The twist is the combination of
state-of-the-art Knight Lore graphics
with straight shoot-'em-up button
bashing. The lasertron is propelled by
a chain of five Vortons, dalek-like
robots with guns in their heads- You
control one Vorton at a time> but the

other four will continue to move the
laser tron forward if they can, and are
thus vulnerable to attack. It seems
particularly devious to design a game
where you can lose your other lives
before you even get to play them.

There are 32 screens of 3D highway
to negotiate, each one containing a
problem of its own* Some involve
moving oil -drums around to prepare
the way for the lasertron, others are
free-for-all scraps with the aliens. The
most difficult involve both.

The aliens have an innocent fury
about them. Some look like rejects
from a remake of War of ihe Worlds,
others resemble psychotic eggs. Vor-
tex promises staggering effects when
the lasertron is finally brought to its
destructive goal.

In many respects the game is super-
ior to Knight Lore and Alien 8, in
that everything moves faster and in a
true eight directions. There is colour

in the screens, though not much, and
most importantly, the action con-
tinues off-screen so you can't hang
about for long trying to work out the
best tactics. Weaknesses^ include less
variety in the problems, and the lack
of a maze — the highway is a simple
straight road, easy to wander along to
the end, but much more difficult to
negotiate with the lasertron in tow.

It is a long time since we last saw a
Vortex game — TLL and Cyclone
were the last products. Highway En-
counter is the best yet, innovative and
addictive, and should go down a treat
th is summer , Ckns Boumc

Publisher Vortex Prk* CT.95
Memory 48K Joystick Kempsion.
Sinclair, cursor

*****

A PERPETUAL MADcap struggle
has left the pages of America's top
cartoon magazine to continue its con-
flict on the computer screen.

The comic capers of the two secret
agents from MAD magazine reappear
in Beyond's Spy vs Spy. A unique
split-screen approach allows two to
play simultaneously.

Ransacking a foreign embassy, the
idiotic duo - one white, one black -
blunder into each other's traps as they
both search for secret documents and
a diplomatic bag.

Hidden in the embassy are five
objects which must be found before
escape can be made in a super-slow
and cranky bi-plane. The rooms all
look alike so it is not surprising that
you are constantly running into your
own traps.

Buckets of water placed over doors,
springs which send you hurtling
across the room, are all part of the fun
in trying to outwit your opponent.
Those can be accessed through an

icon-driven Trapulator and are easy to
set once you've got the knack.

The two sleuths constantly cross
each other's tracks and battle com-
mences. Clubs magically appear as the
two take wild swipes at each other. If
you are lucky enough to score seven
blows, your opponent ascends to
heaven on angel's wings. After a short
breathing space - in which the seconds
still tick by - he is back for more.

Each time a confrontation occurs,
any objects held are lost - either
hidden in that room or throughout the
building, It is the winner's privilege to
search the room and either claim or
reclaim articles.

You can play in a six room embassy
in which the game is quickly over -
ideal for practising on - or up to a 36
room layout where the going is slower

16

and an element of cunning strategy is
required. A two player game is more
fun than playing against the computer
- mainly because the computer nearly
always wins.

Surprisingly, the game is not com-
patible with a Kempston single-port
interface and will only take joystick
interfaces which emulate the
keyboard. A dual port interface is
needed for two players and though the
keyboard can be used, space is
cramped.

The instruction book is lengthy,
though well presented, and it takes a
while to get the hang of the game.
Instant play is not possible, but it's
worth persevering.

Spy vs Spy will probably be as
successful as Shadowfire Playing
against the computer, however, is
unexciting and frustrating- A two
player game is another matter - it's
challenging and there is more fun to
be had outwitting a friend than a mere
circuit board. Clan tdgeley

Publisher Beyond Price £3.96
Memory 48K Joystick Sinclair, Cursor
*****

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

Spectrum Software Scene

THE SODA BAR is as much an
American institution as blueberry pie
or Grandma Moses. To judge from
Tapper, the latest import from US
Gold, the only character who hates it
is the guy who serves the soda.

Your job in Tapper is to keep the
refreshing fizz flowing as the custom-
ers queue for more. There are four
bars, with several layers of play in
each. First it's the turn of the cow-
boys, a fairly docile lot. Slide a drink
along the counter quickly enough and

boys, you move to a duel of wits with
the Soda Bandit. He swaps around the
cans, after shaking all but one. Find
the untampered can and you win*
Open one of the others and you get a
face full of froth.
Then it's on to the senior prom>

101150

NX

released this year, and its theme is just
right for the summer,

Graphics are clear, humorous and
simple so that its easy to see what's
going on. Problems can occur if the
bar gets too crowded, so that two
people in the same place create a blur.
For once, that adds to the realism.

The action is extremely we II- paced
against the demands of the game. Its
fast, but not fast enough to be im-
possible. As usual with US Gold
products, the choosing of skill levels,
joystick selection and so on is made
very friendly. Highly complex arcade-
adventures are all the rage at present,
and it is good to see such a fine,

they'll take it and leave, but if a
customer waits too long he'll stay
around for another.

And that's where the trouble starts,
Obviously impressed with your skill at
delivering drinks, the customers tend
to hurl the empties back at you. One
mistake - a drink too many served, a
glass on the floor, or a customer left
unattended and you lose a life.

If you manage to satisfy the cow-

with jocks and their girls crowding the
marquee. Life gets even more hectic
when you graduate to a punk bar,
although the balding bespectacled
boys look more like fifties college
wimps. Nice to see the colony still
retains a touching innocence about
British mores.

The final sequence involves aliens,
just as eager for a slow Sarsparilla as
anybody else. A lovely touch is the
occasional appearance of a tip. Collect
the lip and a pair of dancing girls
perform on stage. That can be a
blessing, as heads will turn and cus-
tomers stop bothering you for a while.
But serve a drink and they won't
notice — so you have to be careful.

Tapper is simply delightful to play.
It's surely the most addictive game

unpretentious classic arcade game re-
leased. If your brain has been com-
pletely drained by the mysteries of
Shadowfire or Gyron of late, take a
trip to the soda fountain. It's a re-
freshing experience. Chm Bourn*

Publisher US Gold Pnce i 7 95
Memory 48K Joystick Kempston.
Sinclair, cursor
*****

Jet Set Willy II

IT IS EIGHT months late, and
Matthew Smith had very little to do
with it. Nevertheless, it's here, and
Miner Willy rises from the grave in
the final pan of the Manic Miner
trilogy,
If you can clear the clouds of

nostalgia for a moment and look at the
game objectively, it also seems to be
the rip-off of the year. Jet Set Willy II
is, in a nutshell, Jet Set Willy with
about 70 extra screens.

The plot is the same - Maria the
housekeeper won't let Willy go to bed
until he's cleaned up the house. Un-
fortunately, builders have been to
work. Rooms are not always where
they were*

If you're puzzled by all this, Jet Set
Willy was the ultimate ladders and
levels game, launched in 1984 and one
of the biggest selling games ever.

This expanded version continues in
the same vein under the coding of D P
Rowson, with rooms such as Maria in
Space and Beam me up Spotty. Games
attacked include Alien S, and Tribble
Trouble.

Jet Set Willy II is probably as tough

as the original. The Banyan Tree is as
vile as ever, as is the Wine Cellar.
C trap hies, which amazed us all at the
time, now look dated, and the music
does not improve with age. Movement
is considerably faster, although the
infinite death traps, where you cannot
escape losing all your lives in quick
succession, have multiplied.

If you already have Jet Set Willy,
and have waited for the final game for
a year, you'll probably be a little
upset. If you never saw the original,
then die sequel is the one to buy, and
represents very fair value for a one-
time classic. ChmBwrw

Publisher Software Projects
Price £6 95 Memory 48K
Joystick Kempstoo

** +

more software on page 20

CLAIR USER Augwt 1985

17

lere at Sega we like to think we
know a thing or two about quality.
Our reputation has been forged in the

Pl<&T[» 1 BSB34
HI SCQIE Q09?4
MMJW 1 »■

World's most competitive market the
American arcades. Discerning arcade
flayers; and they know a thing or two
as well: have voted our games some o$

74 #Wt*t#W tlpn.Oat^l

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innovation as one chart-topper has
followed another.

a

e mighty ape up
Monkey Mountain in CONGO BON
number 3 in the Billboard Chart in
1984. You'll ride hippos, dodge
charging rhinos and do battle with
jungle creatures: but make sure you
don't end up as a lunch time treat for
man eating fish!

Or you can have a smashing time
with Bally Midway's UP'N DOWN.
This is a Frustrated motorists dream:
you bash your way over rough roads.

: players

ied.

the best of all time. They've enjoyed
high speed action, breathtaking
graphics, thrills and spills, variety anc

But why should the arcade player
have all the fun we were asked.
Of course there was no reason at all;
and so we decided to bring our games
home and let ail the family have a
piece of the action. We have rewritten
the programs for many of the popular
home computers and oow everyone
fiomj

unior to grandma

can nave a

gd J

SPY HUNTER

TAPPER

UP N' DOWN

CONGO BONGO

ZAXXON**

BUCK ROGERS

Commodoie 64

NOW

NOW

NOW

NOW

NOW 1

NOW

Spectrum

NOW

NOW

SOON

SOON

NOW

NOW

Am st r ad

SOON

SOON

SOON

SOON

SOON

SOON

» Fu bluhed by Synaf+c Sofrwufc Coip onlei litencerfroin S*ri EnierprtMi Lid "*«1 veniof. ot ZAXION i vuLi b|e on c jw tc and published by bituaft [qc. undef Ihcekc from 5*g* hairrp wri

Vuieogmr copyn(J« mi Seft £niejpa>ci Lid. mlir Mtiwtf b i tndimtrk ol ft illj iitdmtf MIr. Co. Ftduge *mi pta^tut copyright

leap dead ends, canyons and crush
anyone who gets in the way! No. 1 in
the Play Meter Conversions Poll.
UP 'N 1 DOWN is one smash hit that
really is a smash!
And if all that doesn't drive you to
' then TAPPER will! This has got

:o be the loudest, wackiest saloon bar
there's ever been. The action gets
truly out of hand as the overworked
bar tender scrambles to serve his
unruly (and very thirsty) customers.

1»&4 Se|i Bnieipffcci, Lnc. TAPPER and EPYHVNT1R nc tint

t—r-M-

■ I

alien saucers. Your race against death
has just begunl Prepare for battle with
your most powerful enemy, . . the
mother ship. You must hit her dead
centre -anything less will only waste
fuel. Aim steady, but hurry. . your fuel
is dangerously low!

Work your way through the wild

Western Saloon to the Sports Bar.

from there to the slam dancing Punk

tar and into the Space Bar where the

customers really are out of this world 1
Down to earth with SPYHUNTER
j from Bally Midway. But don't expect
- my chance of a rest After all. this was

the number 1 arcade game of 19*4 and And finally there's the legendary

now you're in the hot-seat of the ZAXXON-the ultimate experience

deadliest machine on four wheels. You'll pilot a space fighter through

You re after enemy spies. The situation force-fields and enemy fire on your
life and death, You'll need eveiy

weapon you've got - machine guns and

guided missiles, oil slicks and smoke
1 sueens But the enemy is everywhere
I On the road, in the water, even in the
I air. So you'll have to be more than fast
f to stay alive in SPYHUNTER: you'll
I seed brains and guts as well!
- Fly into the 2 Sth Century and bear

ihe mantle of the legendary BUCK
I ROGERS. Skillfully slip through

deadly electron posts. Dodge and

mission to do battle with the deadly
ZAXXON, Countless others have gone
before; now it's your turn to do battle
You'll quickly see why ZAXXON is one
of only ten games that have made it

We're bringing all this action home

to you; and now under the U.S. Gold
label you'll find versions lor the
Spectrum and Amstrad too. With U.S.
Gold and Sega, the arcade winners,
you'll be a winner too. Hands down!

into Elect
of Fame

onic Games' American

Commodore 64 Cassett
Commodore 64 Disk
Spectrum 48 K

rican Hall

—

e £9,95

£12,95
£7,95

Man" tact u r«i in th* U . K . bj U .& Go

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Limited Uni| 10, Parkway Industrial Ce nre.
Htnrage Street. Etii m Ln ph am B74L1 ,

Telephone

02} WSM1

Copfrigh

ifl&l. Si &i BaLcrp Mtk

Spectrum Software Scene

Southern Belle

TAKE YOUR SEATS for the 1
o'ciock service from London Victoria .
calling at Clapham Junction } Mer
tham, Haywards Health and all
dons to Brighton. The Soutl^M$e(k\
the famous Pullman servjMR the
1920s, is stoking up for a final run

Hewson Consultaries has a item p
to capture the trials of life in
engine cab in a full simulation of
of the most elegant trains of alt.
You must control a 4-6-0 King
Arthur Class locomotive, reg-
ulating the steam pressure,
shovelling coal into the
boiler, obeying signals,
and even blowing the
whistle at the cor
rect times.

The screen
display shows

erior of the cab and the I
of the track as they pass by. Tl
include 24 stations, tunnels - in.. I
ing the twin -towered Clayton tunnel —
signal boxes, Banersea Power Station,
and other landmarks.

Controlling the train is nor easy, in
spite of a comprehensive booklet in-
luding a history of the line. Gradients
are included, and to score full points
you must make it to Brighton on time,
using an economical amount of coal,
fhere are a number of training

production copy, with many of the

control features not fully operative.

Hewson promises further landmarks

gdes, where the computer controls and decoration on the screen, as well

y of the functions* and the full run as information about hazards and sig-

rials. Our rating is therefore provision-
al and may be updated in a later issue.
Train lovers will certainly enjoy a
good, solid simulation, and those who
are used to flight simulators

day's outing on the Southern
refreshing change from

ides weather hazards. There is a
-speed demo as well, bm the
whole trip is in real-time, so
you will not finish in under
Wn hour.

The version we

was a pre- reir

BICUISM

SOME simulations are fun, others can
be downright boring. Juggernaut fits
snuggly into the second category with

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a trip around town in a container
lorry, trying to pick up cargo.

The loads include fruit, veg, timber
and coal of which you must take
enough to meet targets set by your
manager.

Your trip starts at a depot picked at
random and shown on your map as a
flashing square, Putting the truck into
first gear and pressing down the
accelerator will give forward move-
ment. Moving too fast may take you
into a wall, or through the trees.

The first move should be to find a
telephone and make a call using the
main icon- driven option. A map
appears and you are totd where your
cargo may be picked up. To load cargo
you must back into the docking bay
and press the load icon.

Although the simulation bears some
resemblance to real life — you may

end up with a feeling of road fatigue
— the graphics are minimal and the
action slow. No wonder CRL did not
put any other cars on the road. With
their way of handling interrupts on the
Spectrum the action would come to an
abrupt halt.

As it is, the truck floats along the
lonely road bearing a striking resembl-
ance to a Gillette Gil razor. If that is
vector scan graphics you can keep
them.

A lot more thought could have
made it an original simulation. At
present it is just a bad simulation of a
sim u la tion . joht Gilbert

Publisher CRL Pries £9 95
Memory 4QK Joystick Kempston.
Sinclair, cursor

***

more tft/noare on page 22

20

SINCLAIR USER Augmi 198$

y&$tifr

. . % 5eeutg%i>e!ieving

This It the aaUBXBB 1=1 apoiiess
Ltf clean co*p*r t«en I dJlHingLy
piintld yhitt. IM,E,U)
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HE&lOtMS CflBINST

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INUE

I have with *l*:- .,,__,

LflBSt (JESCTFlOLE STRFI INER ( H O r n 1
PORTHSLC URGUUH CLESHEfi

I'M

ready for your instructions.

SUBSUNK Adventure with Graphics

Trapped on the sea bed in a scuppered submarine

SHORTS FUSE Arcade/Strategy

Sam Short secret agent versus Boris and his bombs

1 1 ♦ t

^m&~J

5 ~

DONT PANIC Arcarie/Strategy

Amusing and challenging, a game with a difference

DONT BUY THIS! Compilation

Five of the worst games you have ever seen

FIREBIRD SILVER CATALOGUE

SPECTRUM 16K/48K
006 RUN BABY RUN Arcade

Multi -car cop chase and shoot- out
035 DONT PANIC Arcade/Strategy

Amgsjung and challenging, a gam* with a difference

SPECTRUM 4SK,
008 VIKING RAIDERS War Game

A lesl of strategy against the computer or friends
012 THE WILD BUNCH Strategy/Adventure

Accused o! murder Hunt the real killer
On MR FREEZE Arcade/ Strategy

Six compartments, each tougher to de-ice

016 BOOTY Arca.de/Adventufe

Twenty holds full of pirate loot
oat SUBSUNK Adventure with Graphics

Trapped on the sea bed in a scuppered submarine
033 THE HELM Adventure

An amusing, stylish text ad venture

036 SHORTS FUSE Arcade/ Strategy
Sam Short secret agenl versus Boris and his bombs

037 HEUCHOPPER Arcade
Fast and smootti multi -screen action

040 DONT BUY THIS Compilation

Five of the worst but funniest games you have ever seen
043 FAHRENHETT 3000 Arcade/Strategy

Sixty tour screens to meltdown

MAILORDER

Please state name of game {and machine} and
numbers required Enclose crossed cheque/PO
made payable to FIREBIRD SOFTWARE All offers
are subject to availability Orders are despatched
promptly All prices inclusive of VAT and postage

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UPPER ST, MARTIN'S LANE,

LONDON WC2H 9BR

RretiB-d *nd Bib FnitHflJ logo an tr wJwnalii of Brttah T^Hcommurwcatofli (He

FIREBIRD SOFTWARE, WELLINGTON HOUSE, UPPER ST MARTIN'S LANE. LONDON WC2H 9DL, TEL: 01-379 6755/S626

Spectrum Software Scene

Cluedo

MURDER is the only illegal move you
are allowed to make in Cluedo, the
authorised computer version of Wad-
dington's board game.

As a firm believer in cheating,
Leisure Genius left me smarting.
What fun is Cluedo if you cannot hide
the identities of your clue cards or
make suggestions about locations
which you hold in your handr 1

Cluedo closely follows the original
board game, using exceptional
graphics to depict the board and the
3D dice which roll over it, When a
player enters a room and makes a clue

p ] l^j

u

t*tm

Quackshot

SLITHERING snakes and clockwork
yellow ducks are your enemies in
Quackshot.

Your task is to keep everything
quiet in the Acme Clockwork Toy
Factory. But as you hear strange
noises and start to investigate, you are
pursued by giant ducks and green
snakes and other wacky wind-ups.
The only way to escape is to destroy

suggestion a view of that room
appears. The switch between displays
is incredibly fast and expertly done.

Once chosen, the characters are
assigned clue cards which depict loca-
tions, suspects and weapons. One card
from each of those catagories is chosen
by the computer to form the situation
for the murder. The characters must
then move around the locations asking
whether other players have particular
cards which, once seen, can he elimin-
ated from their enquiries.

Movement and suggestion phases
form the main part of the game and
the speed at which those cycles take
place can be controlled at the start.

The sound effects slow down play
considerably. They introduce players
onto the screen as their turns roll
around. Music includes Onward
Christian Soldiers for the Rev Green,
Air on a G String for Mrs White and
Land of Hope and Glory for Mrs
Peacock.

The grand denouement can come
when a player makes an accusation, It
is a one-time-affair for that player and
it is done using three menus from
which the choice is selected. If wrong.

the clockworks with your stun gun
and duckbuster bombs.

You have a time limit on each stage,
collecting keys and bonuses to trans-

the player faces expulsion from the
game. The computer can then either
take over the play of the loser's cards,
the player can keep them but not
participate, or the game can be ended.

The big advantage that computer
Cluedo has over the board game is
that you can play against the computer
at any time. You do not need a full
complement of friends.

The Spectrum is certainly not a
good competitor for all its large mem-
ory and logical powers, Cluedo is,
therefore, best played with a number
of human and a few computer partici-
pants. John (JUbert

Publisher Leisure Genius Price C9.95

Memory 48 K

***

port you to the next phase of your
mission and add to your score.

You fcave to negotiate the maze of
corridors, which are obstructed by
toys or dead ends. There are 16
screens for you to pass.

The graphics are smooth and as
basic as any other maze game. It is
reasonably priced if you like this sort
of run-of-the- mill game . Narisah Ftm

Publisher Creative Sparks
Price £2.50 Memory 48K
Joystick Kernpstan, Sinclair
***

The Covenant

ANY CONNECTION between The
Covenant, biblical events and good
games is totally coincidental.

You must guide your space ship
around the caverns, getting out to pick
up objects and pieces of covenant
which, once fitted together, will save
the world from destruction. There is,
however, the little problem of the
Thingies. They have a sting in their
tails which will terminate you in-
stantly.

To destroy the Thingies you must

leave your craft, pick up some anaes-
thetic and hit one of the two creatures.
It will then be disabled for a few
seconds. Then jump back into the
spacecraft and bounce on it to pick it
up. Such complex action makes leng-
thy play impossible.

The Thingies are intelligent and
attack as soon as you leave your craft,
draining your energy. Getting to Lhe

energiser is difficult and once there
the Thingies continue their attack.

In the second section you must pass
pipes which drip molten lava. There
are more Thingies to kill, more
covenant to pick up and more sections
through which to pass,

Arcade wizards would find it diffi-
cult to complete 256 caverns, go
through 67 passages and contend with
ever-present aliens using just one life.

John Gilbert

Publisher PSS Pries Cfi 95

Memory 4©K

Joystick Kenripstors, Sinclair, Cursor

**

mirrt sQfnomt m page 24

U AIR USER August;

Name.....
Address.

...... 1 1 ■

sue

,„„... „, SPECTRUM ON/OFF SWITCHES

@ £4.95 each to suit (please ti ck) £..

SpectrumlZ^l Spectrum +1 1

* " ' ... DATA 8INDERS @ £5.95 each £.

« ■«>» * p Mv computer is a„ .,.....,

- ■"■* ***" ' All prices include post & packing.

Please make cheques payable to TEC Publications, 24 Victoria Rd, Brc-msgrove, Worcs. B61 ODW.

Dealer Enquiries Welcome Tel (0527) 74567

SPECIA
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S I \CL AIR USER A ugutl / 985

23

Spectrum Software Scene

LUNAR adventure awaits anyone
brave enough to accompany the in-
famous Sloanc Ranger, Charlemagne
Fotheringham-G runes, on his mission
to save the earth.

Odin's Nodes of Yesod is startling -
ly similar in theme to Quicksilva's
Bugaboo but there the similarity
ends.

You play the part of the intrepid
Charlie who has to- search the caverns
of the moon for a monolith, which
scientists believe is used to transmit
coded messages through space.

•OT

[□ os ail

On docking, your best bet is to find
a friendly mole who will be of con-
siderable help later on in the game.
Moles are able to gnaw through some
cavern walls, opening up larger areas
for exploration. For some unknown
reason, Charlie keeps the mole in the
helmet of his space suit.

Dropping through one of the many
craters, Charlie descends to a world
inhabited by many wonderful alien
types. Fish swim quite happily in zero
gravity, firebirds and walking limes
stalk the cavern floors — all of which
will send you reeling. Dancing teddy-
bears decrease your energy, but the
mole can be sent to kill [hem.

Dressed in a space suit, Charlie is
able to somersault from platform to
platform as he makes his way through
the caverns. The graphic detail is
excellent.

Eight alehiems — unidentifiable
objects — must be picked up if you
are to find the monolith which is
cunningly hidden.

A grid at the bottom of the screen
keeps count of ale h terns collected,
energy levels and has a real time clock.
If your energy gets too low you may

ttfftfffttlft

have to sit down for a rest.

One alien in a red pressure sun
must be avoided at all costs — he
cannot be killed. As soon as you have
found an alchiem he will be along to
steal it.

Control of movement when switch-
ing from Charlie to the mole is simple
and animation is smooth — except
when two bears land on the same spot,
when they flicker wildly.

The game more than makes up for
the reams of waffling prose, spelling
mistakes and lack of story on the
cassette inlay. What are Rhodenden-
drons anyway? Despite that, Nodes of
Yesod is definitely worth adding to
your 1 ibrary of games , Clare tTijpfijt

Publisher Odin Price C9 95
Memory 48 K Joystick Kempston,

cursor, Sinclair

Go to Hell

BAD TASTE carried to extremes is
the concept of the first release from
Triple Six, an ominous name if ever
there was one.

Hell is a 50 screen maze, garish and
full of cute little animated scenes of
torture. Heads explode in gouts of red
as spikes crush them. Bodies are
stretched on racks, decaying faces are
sawn into pieces.

The walls are composed of the
bodies of the damned, or fiery pits,
and the whole vile picture is set

against a background of sound which
can best be described as a sinister
squelching, like somebody walking in
squeaky shoes over pieces of raw liver.
The game is difficult and addictive,
but there are no great ideas and
programming involved. Spiders pur-

sue you with webs, and other nasties
hurl missiles at you.

The quest involves finding seven
giant crucifixes culminating in a
friendly chat with Beelzebub* For all
their horror, the graphics are very
much based on the UDG format, with
a certain amount of flicker.

Buy it for the sicko humour rather
than the game, and you'll not be
disappointed.

Chris Bourne

Publisher 666 Price £6.99
Memory 48K Joystick Sinclair,
Kempston, cursor
**+

Super Pipeline II

THE TASK is hardly run of the mill
and graphics hardly sophisticated in
this drain of a game from Taskset.

Your objective is to keep the pipe-
line open. No holes or gaps must
appear in it and it would be more than
your job is worth if water escaped and
did not run into the barrels below the
pipe.

As foreman Fred you have {WO

helpers who will hammer any hole
closed. But first you must collect them
and lead them to the leak. Obstacles
include evil insects, intent on chewing
you to death, and various power tools
which have wills of their own.

Despite the awful graphics the play-

24

er will also be disappointed with the
payability of the game — worse than
the original arcade version. The
graphics could have been at least as
colourful, even allowing for the Spec-
trum screen restrictions.

Super Pipeline II is like Jaws //, all
packaging and no bite.

John Gilbert

Publisher Taskset Price £7 95

Memory 48K

**#

more wfmmc tm pugv 26

SINCLAIR USER Augtui 19SS

At last! Watson on Assembly.
The complete course for beginners

The step by step text in this latest of the well-known "Dr.
Watson' books introduces the complete beginner to Z80
programming. By the end of the course every Z80 class of
instruction has been explained in detail. There are numerous
examples and exercises throughout the book which ends by
showing how to integrate BASIC. The series of 'Dr. Watson'
Assembly courses, of which (this ts the 9th, has been | praised
by many reviewers for its clarity and comprehensive coverage
of the subject. The complete 250 page course is t as usual,
accompanied by an assembler with tutorials for hexadecimal
and BCD, on tape.

The complete ZBO assembler

includes:—

Symbolic labels

Hard copy
•Assembler directions

Insert/Delete

•A tutor to help with
hexadecimal notation is
included

■ A full Assembler is supplied
with each course-

Send cash with order (post free) to:

Glentop Publishers Lid, Freeposl, Barnet, Herts, or ring 01-441 4130 to place an order via Access.

THE SWITCH

THE ORIGINAL AND THE BEST IN A NEW
IMPROVED VERSION FOR THE SPECTRUM
AND SPECTRUM +

* POWER
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0708-852647

+ Avoids coatfy
repairs

* Sa v« s wear
on power plug

* Simple just
plugs into
the power socket

* RESET SUTTON
ON/OFF
Allows you to
Change peripherals
without unplugging

* Compatible wllh
al add one

Delivery Promise
Delivery within 10 days
or your money back

EIDERSOFT THE OFFICE HALL FARM
ISLOCKENDON UPMINSTER ESSEX RM14 3QH

Please rush me , Switches @ £4.95

Please add 50p P&P PER ORDER

I enclose a cheque/PO for £

Now available at selected deafers

ft MR STAR QUALITY
M flown to earth prices.

■AfKermi r. ryrp.44 i*
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SINCLAIR USER Augusi 1985

25

Spectrum Software Scene

Tales of the
Arabian Nights

"LORD of the silken bowstring," said
Scheherazade, "I'm sick of telling
stories. Let's play a computer game
instead." And so the great Sultan
plugged in his gold-plated Spectrum.

"Aha!" quoth the Sultan. "Tis a
tale of the rogue Imrahil and his quest
to rescue Anitra from the evil
Saladin,"

And so the mighty Sultan settled
down and began to guide the pale,
flickering Imrahil about the screen of
his bejewelled Sony.

"See my lord," murmured
Scheherazade, "here is the ship of
Sinbad, full of gold- Each bag is
marked with a letter, and the letters
spell out the sigil ARABIAN. Collect

the gold and enrich thyself with points
beyond measure."

But the Sultan grew angry, for he
found it most difficult to spell Ara-
bian. There were three As in it, and
which was which, and what was what,
and why? Lives did he lose as the
night progressed, jumping from deck
to deck and mast to mast, avoiding the
hazards of Sinbad's ship. And the
couscous sat heavy on his bowels.

Then Scheherazade of the nimble
wrist took the diamante joystick and
showed her master how to negotiate
the first screen, and then it was
straight down the river by raft to the
caverns of Al-Khemizd.

"More gold!" roared the Sultan,
and straightway began collecting the
bags again. Meanwhile Scheherazade
tiptoed out to play much more excit-
ing state-of-the-art stuff with her
friends in the village, and was never

called upon to serve the Sultan again.
Which teaches us, O children of the
desert, that even the simplest of level
and Ladders games may provide a few
hours of escape from the rigours of the
h are m , Ckns Bounx

Psychedelia

HEY MAN, this is really far out. It's
so far out I can't see the point of it.

The latest craze from Llamasoft is
called Psychedelia. The author de-
scribes it as a computer toy.

You could hardly call Psychedelia a
game. All it does is create random,
pretty, patterns which you can prog-
ram and save onto tape. Pressing keys
on the keyboard will have one of three
effects. You can either change the
characters which make up the pat-
terns, change their colours or the
overall flow of the patterns.

If you want to produce your own
patterns the program presents you

with one cursor block on the screen.
You can change the block into one of
the pre-defined character shapes, set
the visual synthesiser to record mode
and press the keys to control the
direction of the whirls, lines, circles
and diamonds.

Llamasoft has launched the product

■•:r,

■ a

■■■■■■

111.

into the wrong market. Instead of
being on the shelves of high street
shops it should be running advertising
matter in [heir windows, The program
does allow text to be run with [he
graphics, so the product would be
ideal for visual advertising.

The light synthesiser is an interest-
ing idea, probably generated because
Jeff Minter of Llamasoft had run out
of things to do with camels, goats and
llamas. It is the sort of activity which
could make you go blind — or mad.
You would certainly be mad to buy it .

John (iilberi

Frankenstein
2000

" PERFORM revolutionary micro-
surgery during this fantasy journey

through the long lost monsters body.
Deposit the secret formula from your
especially equipped micro submarine
in the bionic implants scattered
throughout the body's organs."

Thus reads the ungrammatical
blurb on the cassette inlay of Franken-
stein 2000. Sounds familiar? Don't be
fooled. This game bears as much
resemblance to Quicksilva's Fantastic
Voyage as it does to entertainment.

In the trachea your sub has to avoid
the hopping frogs; in the Jungs you do
battle with cigarette packets. Lurking
in the stomach are undigested fried
eggs and greasy bacon. What a hoot.

Your rapidly diminishing oxygen
supply can he replenished by a brief

shoot 'em -up after every two organs,
in which you fire at rampaging oxygen
molecules. Damage to your craft can
only be repaired by locating spanners.

The graphics are large, coloured
and uninspired. Arcade nulii will find
most screens a doddle, but the infan-
tile humour will defeat them

As a budget game it would be
average. As it is, almost any other
game at the same price is better value
for money. Fantastic Voyage certain-
ly is. H fit Scotoma

Mem

morn software on page IS

SINCLAIR USER August I

LIVE OUT YOUR DRE AMS

ON THE

Journey back to the 1930s and the glorious days of
steam aboard the footplate of the powerful King
Arthur Cfass 4-6-0.

You can a [most fee! the heat from the firebox and smell
the billowing smoke when you thunder along the
famous London to Brighton run.
Using the footplate controls and gauges you wifl tow
the Pullman carriages from Victoria to Brighton in 60
minutes. Any delays will ruin your timetable, so keep
an eye on your stocks of water and coal - you can
check the efficiency of your coal bum by the density of
the smoke. Your present speed, time and the position
of the next signal for guidance are also displayed.
y/ipe the soot from your eyes and peer out of the cab
to pick out the 24 stations as they rush by, Look out for
other well known landmarks such as Battersea Power

Station and the Clayton Tunnel.

Take the option as the driver with your Spectrum

guiding you along the right track, or try harder levels

where you are the driver and the fireman, perhaps

faong adverse conditions that could make you

disastrously late J

Realistic controls such as the regulator controlling the

flow of steam to the cylinders, the damper controlling

a'\F flow to the Hre, vacuum brakes and the fire doors,

plus authentic moving graphics and sound, make

Southern Belle second only to the real experience.

You have steam up, there's a strict timetable, the

Southern Belle is all ydurs

Now that was the age of the train I

For air 48K ZX Spectrum*. Price £7.95

to

lor

Technician Tad

Arcade Advrr*u«

Fgr an 48K SptUfurn* IS.+S

and Amstrad CPC *64 »i.«

HEvoon conMJLuna

560 Milton Trading Esw« . MlSoaAbtntjdon, OKW, OX 1 4 4RX

For mail order send cheque/pastal order made payable to

Hewson Consultants For credit card sales state your Access/

Barclaywrd number and enclose a specimen signature.

Don t forget to include your own name and address.

Drafonton

L rviTig M**« Mow

f or a»H8K Spcttnjmi IT.fS

and Amarad CPC +6* ft. W

HMthnwtnWAtikHul

SMttuUuan

For all +R* Spectrum* if .K

and AflWMd CPC *** I7.W

Ai part of dot comrmng deiwtaonwnLof Innovatlw M*T*w* we are afways happy to rvaJuat? software sent to us. with a www to puMfcanon.

Spectrum Software Scene

The Bulge

THE BULGE has nothing to do with
eating too much paella on your sum-
mer hols, It's all about war, as you'd
expect from Lothlorien, and it's set in
the Christmas of 1944, when the snow
was deep all over Belgium and the
Allies storming towards Berlin.

The Battle of the Bulge was Hitler's
response to the rapid success achieved

by the allies after the initial D-Day
landings. The plan was to blitzkrieg
through the American Lines, capture
Antwerp, and split the allies in two,

Lothlorien's game, marketed under
a new deal by Argus, simulates the
campaign from either point of view,
depending on your tastes. You can
also piay with a friend rather than
against the computer.

There are two main displays, a
'global' one which shows the entire
disposition of forces, and the battle
map, a large scrolling area where
orders are given and units moved . The
essence of the game is to set appropri-
ate long range objectives for main
units and then adjust to send rein-
forcements to particular areas.

Terrain and weather are taken into
account, and everything is real-time,
which leaves room for little error. The
Germans must punch through as fast
as they can, while the allies must
bolster the tattered lines.

The display is clear, if not particu-
larly artistic, with UDG-style terrain
and units. Movement is by positioning
a cursor, and then pressing SPACE.
Information is given on the unit's
status and then you can issue orders to
move it.

The Bulge begs comparison with
the excellent Arnhem from CCS. The
game is not quite so friendly to play,
but gives as good a feet for the
problems of the campaign. It might be
improved with better sound effects,
and clearer indications of when pieces
have been moved or not, as it is
possible to cancel an order without
realising it.

That said, The Bulge is a good hard
fight. It is fast and accurate, and a
welcome addition to the new breed of
computer wargames. Ckm Boume

Publisher LothltMWt Fife* £9.99
Mamory 48K Joystick Kwnpstwi

LET'S DO the Time Warp again and
enter the mansion of Dr Frank V
Furter,

So here's the plot. Your beloved
Janet, or Brad — depending on
whether you're male, female, or just
don't care — has been pushed into the
Medusa machine, the evil doctor's
ready-made cement mixer. Your job is
to find the 15 missing pieces of the
De- Medusa machine.

The bits are scattered in a few
rooms around the two storey mansion
and you can pick only one at a time.
You then carry it onto the stage and fit
it into the machine's flashing frame.

The rooms contain laser beams, yin
and yang symbols, magic mushrooms
and hypodermic syringes, so be care-
ful. You will also have weird charac-
ters with which to contend.

There's Riff Raff, the manic de-
pressive butler who serves electrifying
experiences. Magenta will take off all
your clothes. Is that the ultimate
computer experience or a cheap thrill?

The other characters include a
groupie, Columbia; Rocky Horror, a
Furter creation who appears in odd
places; and biker Eddie, whose bag is
deep freezes.

Some characters will kill you im-
mediately while others have comments
to make about life and death.

The animation has not been hand-
led as well as it could have been. If
several characters are moving on-

screen the action is slowed down.

If you enjoyed the film and want to
play a better than average take-off
then CRL will be in your favour. I
found k weirdly addictive . John Gtibtrt

Publish* CRL Prie«C8-9$

MsxirtWy 48ft Joystick Kcmpstcin.

Protek, Sinclair

###

PROFESSOR Indiana Smith is no
relation of the famous Spielberg
archaeologist but he does get into the
same sort of trouble.

His exploits are featured in a trilogy
of games under the tide Saimazoom.
He starts his adventures in a jungle,
probably 'somewhere in Africa',
where he is after some rare and exotic
specimens. Some archaeologist! He
does not know what he is after or what

his finds are until he gets them back to
base camp and he has no map-

Luckily , he can pick up guns, axes
and canoes scattered around the place.
There are 100 square screens, or
miles, to be travelled within the game
and the journey involves river cros-
sings, monster attacks, and even a

28

spot of GBH on local jungle shrines.

You can get to the shrines using
keys which you have found. Just
insert one into a lock and you will be
teleported to another location.

The unlikely scenario, ease of play
and wimp monsters make the game
suitable only for those who have not
touched a computer or laid eyes on an
arcade game . John Gilbert

Ptsfa lsh sr Sihwsoft Pries £7,96
■■sirajry 48K Joystick Kwnpston.
Sinclair

#*#

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

*

"YOU MUST BE THE BEST
SOFTWARE FIRM IN THE WORLD"

(L. Hallard, London)

FOREIGN ORDERS WELCOME, satisfied customers in 63 countries over 3 years. UK prices include VAT: export prices are the same, plus p&p,
because of the extra work and risk involved- Pay by sterling cheque, bank draft or postal order. All order* must be prepaid: we send your program*, u
soon 15 we get your money! It's faster to order by phon^ from any country with your VISA, EURO CARD, MASTERCARD or ACCESS, Call Q"l-7B9 8 r »4>>
24hrs r 7 days a week. WE ALWAYS TRY TO SEND YOUR PROGRAMS ON THE DAY WE GET YOUR ORDER, that's why it's called Speedysott! All
programs normally in stgck, Faulty tapes replaced immediately. ALL PROGRAMS FOR SPECTRUM AND SPECTRUM +, BIG FREE ILLUSTRATED
CATALOGUE WITH EVERY ORDER DESCRIBES ALL THE BEST SPECTRUM PROGRAMS, Send £1,00 {refundable) for catalogue only.

A VIEW TO A KILL

"A remarkable computer
, sjm uiation. " iDaiiy Express)
"Real explain of the world's best secret agent with great graphics and sound."
fC&VG) VOL ARE IAMES BOND, 007. 3 exdiing arcade adventures hasted on your
LaieM film, tt talks. Plays your theme. Even Duran Duran play. Realtime; act
Iwler, get better raiing*! Sticks OK. (DomarlO CASSETTE £10.4S

YJ\JW YJ l\w\.tW^l t on the Spectrum ... compulsive,

graphically excellent, an essential purchase. " tPCW) The 'prequef to Tir Ha Nog.
A more manageable game, made more eventful as the young Cochukainn is
lomed by 11 brilliantly animated characters. Demo. 9 command keys. No Stick,
i Gargoyle I CASSETTE £9.«

OPERATION CARETAKER U£

IY STUNNED by the improvement it produced ... almost git the blasted ftrroo
loaders I could not get lo work went in first time ...an eucnftid purchase."
iPCWi 2 tap**- l.Head cleanerdemagnetiier. Use every 4 hrs, Z.Azimuth
alignment l heck tape. Watch the display, adjust your recorder accordingly, (uwl
prnvidedj Use every 10 hour!.. It worki. (Global! 2 CASSETTES £9.9S

/^VDOW ^ brilliant fjjmt>, stands in a class of its own." (SUsr)
Vj 1 IV v*J 1^1 "Stunning graphically ... there is little lo rival it in the
entire world of Spectrum programs ... utterly original., compulsive" tPCW) WIN
A PORSCHE 424, TOO! Firebird are ottering a Porsche 9tZ4 tu the lirsl person to
solve Cyron before 21/KV85. (A lie-breaker may be needed. t Two versions,
easyish and hardish, on either side o( (his tape. Carries speed controllable.
Breathtaking graphics. Slicks OK- If irebirrfj CASSETTE £9.95

BORED OF THE RINGS

"An excellent
and vast parody
. I would father spend months unravelling 'Bored" than days on a self-important
serious' epic — Challenging and atmospherically written." (PCW) Huge, funny,
beautifully graphical adventure spoof loads in -l parts. No Stick. (Delta 41 2
C ViSlTTtS t> HI M DRIVE i AKI*. OM

SPY

C nV "At last there m an arcade-type game where skill is
3T I mure important than good rejciions. " tPCG) FOt t

V

OR 2 PLAYERS. 2 CAN PLAY AT ONCE! Both the Slack Spy and I he While Spy
appear at once on the split-screen and search the rooms, occasionally meeting,
fighting, planting booby traps. Choose your own skill level and iht? i ompuici Y
Realtime. A modern classic. Most Sticks excepl Kempsfon. (Beyond) CASSETTE
£9.95

World Series BASEBALL

The screen
display is

nothing ihort of brilliant! ... This it a must." (ZXCompi "Tremendous attention
tt> detail .... the best thing that has ever been released by Imagine." (Crash?
Classic 3D simulation, with views of the whole pitch and giant video screen at the
back showing animated close-ups of the action. 1 or 2 players. 3 skill levels.
Dem«. Slicks OK. (Imagine) CASSETTE £&.«

C I I fkl I— I /~\ I ICE "* fej ' body snatcher, once it's got a hold on
rU 1^1 ti\~J%*J Jt you, it will be difficult to throw it off. An

excellent game. " tYrSp) "An almost oppressive air of evil and (ftttCVOtcrtl r hangs

over the siene; well -executed, novel, interesting and value lor money t00%."
(HCW) Basically a wcll-writlen text adventure, with some graphics, The puzzles
arc all totally new. II is compulsive. No Stick. (Pacific) CASSETTE £4.95

ARNHEM

ONE OF THE FINEST COMPUTES WARGAMES M
HAVE SI- EN. a blend of complex strategy, historical
authenticity and simple, swift operation which will haw fans returning (or
mure. " tSIJsr) "Pwjbabfy fhe best wargame on the Spectrum lo date. " lYrSpf tto
3 players: 5 dilferenl scenarios lasl from under 1 hour to over fl! Good clear
graphics help. No Stick. iCCS! CASSETTE £B.95

CAULDRON

"There's an awful lot to this game and the
graphics and action are superb, a

compulsive, graphically tasty little number." (PCtV) "Superb pictorial game

the graphics are brilliant and colourful ... You will be gelling l»« i'*< client jjmn
for ibe price (if one." t$LJ$r! The <,td};j>ennf{ly' beautiful Cauldron on oritr ifctt 01
the tape and a FREE game The EVIL DEAD' on the llipsidt. Can'l be beat, Sticks
I'alatel DOUBLE CASSETTE £8.00

The ROCKY HORROR SHOW

"Looks good, sounds good and is very addictive ... just like the show itself
(C&VCf "The mansion is an accurate reproduction of the film sets and >r%
inhabitants are easily recognisable and behave in r hararter. even speaking lines

that every Rocky fan will know by heart." tPCW) If you love i|, you'll km n
Slicks Ok (CRL) CASSETTE £fl.9S

STRIP POKER

"Even without the strip leature, this game

would stilt be very compulsive ... the
scene where the girl removes her dress is very well done ... the movement! are

alt natural and the effect is quite convincing." (AmUsr) Very we 1 1 -animated game
of S-card draw poker with some of the biggesl graphics you have ever seen. You
can raise, stand, fold or bet bul you cannot c heat. Mmdy, modest Mmdy, is your
opponent.«H£ careful of hpr bluffing. Mind you, she doesn't always blult... NO
STICK. (Knighlioft) CASSETTE £6.95

FORMULA ONE

"Really good strategy game . . . it's
one ot the best." (PCWl "A rare
example of a simulation which combines attractive displays, good game
structure and an exciting theme. " ISUsrj 1 to b players, Full simulation of a Grand
Prix Racing Season. 16 races. Invest your sponsors' money in drivers, pii-cn-^-s
cars: guess the weather forecast's accuracy, choose your tym- Then watch ihe
races run in good, big graphics- STICKS Most.^CWL) CASSETTl £7 <K

MINI OFFICE

QUITE EXCEPTIONAL VALUE ..the tint
atlordabie program suite I have seet\ . I
strongly recommend beginners get this first. " t'PCNl 4 programs on one tape, alt
working with EPSON compatible primer., vyordprckessoji: database:
SPREADSHEET: GRAPHIC'S .An am&iinj; tnll.tfiun a1 an unbdirvable pnte. no
wonder we've sold so many! NO STICK. {Database) CASSETTE £S.9S

VISA
ACCESS

SPEEDYSOFT

01-789 S546 (24 HRS)

EUROCARD
MASTERCARD

POST TO: SPEEDYSOFT (SU33)

87 HOWARD'S LANE, LONDON SW15 6NU, ENGLAND.

For CATALOGUE ONLY, send £1 cash. Refunded with your first order.
I own a SPECTRUM. I enclose a cheque/PO payable to SpeedySoft
OR charge my VISA , ACCE5SyEURQCARD.WSTEKCARD

No.

n

m i i i i i rm

Signature: Expiry Dale

Pl*a*e write clearly . I f we can ' I read i t, you won r l get it.

Namp;

Name
Address

Postcode:

PHONE NO; if any, mease of query

Program Name

Ma

Postage* Packing. UKadd75pperorder

Europe ADD £1.00 per program

Outside Europe ADD £150 per program

Total Order

QL Software Scene =

MicroAPL

MICROAPL is a powerful subset of
APL, a language developed in the
1960s but .which, because of its spe-
cialised symbols and use of memory ,
has only recently been translated to
microcomputers.

The language is similar to Forth. It
allows the user to define functions
which act as stand-alone programs or
which can be used in other functions.
MicroAPL is, however, easier to use
than Forth. You can create variables
in a similar way to SuperBasic and
without the hinderance of a stack
structure.

Arrays are not allowed within the
language but you do not need them.
One variable can contain a matrix, or
list, of strings or numbers, each sepa-
rated by a space. For instance

A is 1 2 3 4
would put those values into variable
A. To access just one of the numbers
you have to use a language construct
similar to the one which selects a
character or number from a Super-
Basic string or array. For instance,

A<1>
would print '1' on the screen as it is
the first number in the A variable
created above.

It is possible to automatically set up
ranges of numbers within variables
using an index command.

It is also possible to manipulate
those numbers using Micro APL r s ex-
traordinarily powerful numeric oper-
ators.

If you want to perform an operation
on a whole range of numbers it can be
done with just one command.

A is 10+5 7 9 12
will add 10, the number before the +
operator to 5 } 7, 9 and 12 and so they

become 15, 17, 19, 22. Those matrix
operations are performed at great
speed even when hundreds of values
are involved.

The package is also equipped with
graphics and sound commands,
although you may have to set up your
own functions to make them easier to
handle.

MicroAPL is an impressive pack-
age and a pleasure to use. It is ideal
mainy for use in education and re-
search which requires the solution of
complex formulae but it could be used
in business to calculate profits and tax*

MicroAPL has done a fine conver-
sion job for the QL. More power to its
programming language. Jchn Cj/ ^

Publisher MicroAPL, Unit IF. Nine
Eims Industrial Estate, 87 Kirtltng
Street. London, SW8 5BP
Price £99.95

QC Compiler

THE QC Compiler from GST does
not provide a full implementation but
a hacked -down version called Rat C
with the addition oflogical, unary and
assignment operators and comma ex-
pressions.

Two microdrive cartridges are in-
cluded within the package. The first
contains the compiler, an assembler,
die Sinclair Linker, a SuperBasic
program to boot the compiler and a
clone. The second cartridge includes
the library routines, an I/O header file
and an example of C source file.

One serious omission from the

package is a screen editor. The in-
struction booklet states that you will
have to get one from another source,
such as Tony Tebby's QL Toolkit

The compilation process is not as
friendly as it could be. After typing
the C source code listing into a file
editor you must save it and load it
back into the C compiler which gener-
ates 68000 source from the C listing.

You must then save that source and
load it into an assembler — any
assembler — which will complete the
translation into 68000 code.

There are no grumbles about the
documentation. The company has
done its usual better-than-average job.
The manual is comprehensive but, for
some odd reason, includes more than

it should. A few of the example
programs contain a C instruction
which cannot be used within the Rat C
environment.

The package is disappointing. GST
is a company which is highly regarded
by other manufacturers, including
Sinclair Research, and it should know
that a good user interface which helps
beginner and expert alike is impor-
tant. The core of the product has been
well put together but a little more time
could have been spent on window
dressing,

John GUbfri

Publisher GST
Price £59.95

r

Blackjack

CARRYING on the tradition of 'bring
out the rubbish first and promise to
bring out the good stuff later', Quest
has launched Blackjack.

The evergreen game, probably that
Detour because of the mould it has
attracted as it festered in the vaults of
software companies, is a simulation of
casino Blackjack in which you and the
banker battle it out to get the highest
value hand or 21 — a Blackjack. That
is the claim but it is just not true.

There are certain aspects of the
game which do not tally with our

expert understanding of it. For in-
stance, when the values of your hand
and that of the computer are equal the
game gives you your bet back. In the
version of the game which we know —
and love — you lose your money
unless you have an outright win.

The only selling point for Blackjack
is the better than average graphics.
They include a display of the cards
and the number of chips you have on
the tabic. The LOADing screen, put
up two minutes into the game load,
shows cards and a straight whisky.

You will probably need the whisky
if you have just parted with the £20
needed to purchase the game. There is
no logical reason for putting the price
so high. Quest is taking no gamble.

John Gilbm

Publisher Quest
Price £13.95

*

mon QL software on page 32

SINCLAIR USER August 1 9BS

31

= QL Software Scene

MonQL

WE HAVE received assemblers by the
bucketful but we have been waiting
for a good monitor/disassembler to
arrive. HiSoft has, at last, plugged the
gap in the market with MonQL, by
Andrew Pennel.

Once called from microdrive one,
using a boot routine, it can either be
loaded into what HiSoft regards as the
usual space for machine code prog-
rams or into the resident procedure
area. In most cases the latter is more
protected than the former.

It is possible to drop out of the
monitor and back into SuperBasic by
using CTRL + Q and from there to
re-enter the program by typing"
MONQL as a procedure named.

When it has been loaded MonQL
displays information about how it was

entered and gives the Job ID which is
usually when execution starts from
SuperBasic.

A front panel window is set up near
the middle of the screen. It is split inn*
two sections. The first contains in-
formation on the state of some 68008
registers. The values contained within
the Program Counter and Status
register arc shown.

The flags which have been set
within the Status Register are also
displayed. As usual T means Trace bit
set, U means that the processor is in
User mode and S means that Super-
visor mode is in operation.

Control commands are entered us-
ing keywords, in a similar way to the
Spectrum. For instance, J means Job
Control and Display while Q invokes a
Quick Disassembly.

Other monitor functions include
memory block copy, set Memory
Pointer, register modify, base conver-

sion, insert breakpoints, and a series
of search facilities which can be done
using byte, word, or long words. The
function keys have also been set up to
change the size and position of the
front panel window. One criticism is
that the sizes have been set by the
author, You cannot use cursors to
extend the window.

MonQL continues the high stan-
dard which we have come to expect
from HiSoft, but the same cannot be
said about the documentation. The
manual gives brief details of monitor
operations and multi-tasking but
could have been expanded to include
more examples for beginners.

Despite that MonQL is a useful
product and one of the best dis-
assemblers un the market. John Gilbert

Publisher Hi Soft
Price £19.95
****

Land of Havoc

THE BOX looks great. A hzard man
fires a gun at a giant scorpion. Inside,
there are nine glossy postcards with
maps on them. Even the instruction
booklet looks like it was done by
Ultimate. But no . . . instead we've
got a maze game from Microdeaf

If that sounds cruel let this be fair
warning: we intend to be nasty about
QL software until the quality catches
up with the price. Land of Havoc is a
gigantic game, to be sure — 2000
screens — but the graphics do not
exactly stretch the machine.

You have to run around a maze

collecting various objects on a lengthy
quest. The first maze has nine sec-
tions 3 including a desert, village,
forest and graveyard. To begin with
you must seek a book in the village,
then you will be directed to other areas
for more objects. The postcards fit
together to form a large map, changed

each game. After the first stage, you
move underground, where the maps
cannot help you.

The graphics are very large and
chunky, a sort of magnified Sabre
Wulf but wholly Jacking in the riotous
colour and variety of foes of that
classic maze game.

It is expensive, which reflects the
cost of overheads against a small QL
market, but such excuses mean little
to the customer. If you require arcade
action on your QL, then buy it by all
means, but don't expect miracles of

programming . Chri t Bourne

Publisher Mierodeal
Price £1 9.95 Joyshitk
***

QL Gardener

PLAN YOUR English country garden
with the latest really useful gem from
Sinclair Research.

To be fair the program provides
extensive plant and tree databases, but
how many people in the still small QL
user base also have green fingers and
are willing to buy a piece of software
when books do just as well? At least
you can easily take a book into the
garden or to the horticultural centre.

The master program is a database
controller into which you can load one
of the plant libraries supplied with the

package or one you have ordered from
an address given in the instructions.

The plant libraries can be accessed
to perform a variety of functions.
They can be used in general garden
design, to choose specific types of
plant or for teaching and learning
purposes, The two libraries included
in the package are Bushes and Trees,
and Garden Fluwers. Each is capable
of storing 600 plant names and details.

The catagorisation of plants in 1
eludes type, hardiness, size, growth
speed, foliage, scent and soil condi-
tions* You may want to find a plant
which flowers in summer, will flourish
in rocky ground and has a purple
bloom. The program provides a series

Publisher Sinclair Research
Price £24.95

**

of menus which, hopefully, will lead
to several plants of the variety you
require.

Although the instruction booklet is
well written it treats the reader as an
imbecile. A large amount of space is
filled with the technicalities of using
the QL, Much of the information is
repeated within the program.

It is hard to understand why Sinc-
lair, which boasts of the power of the
QL, has launched a product which
could have run equally well on an 8-bit
micro. JohtQilbm

U

SINCLAIR USER Augmii^S

SEIKOSHA IMPACT DOT MATRIX PRINTERS

GP-50A

Designed for the hobby ( Si

• Printing speed — 4Qcps

•5 incti< 46 columns * Friction teed

• Centronics parallel interface

• Plain paper— Idw running cost
GP-SOS — Sinclair compatible

model

QP-S5AS — HS-232C •■rial menial.,,
available toon.

GP-SOOVC

Built exclusively for COMMODORE
VIC-20'C-64 Pergonal Computer ^

• Printing speed — 50c ps

• 10 inch, SO columns

!eed
Gft-SOOAT - ATARI compatible
model

GP-SOOA

A new generation of Seiko she
tow-coat, 10 inch, 80-column
printer.

• Printing speed— 5Qcds *Pm
feed •Centronics parallel
interface • Low noise level
3P-5D0AS- RS-232C Uriel
model

Here's an

invitation

from

GP-550A

Features a 2-ln-1 masterpiece- data
proceulng end correspondence
quality mode,

• Dual printing speed— 50cps/
25cps • to Inch, 80 columns

• Various character modes tor

special effects * Friction and
pin leed •Centronics parallel
interface * Optional interface—
RS232C. POM sol for IBM PC,

GP-700A

Superb 7-ccJor graphic printing

• Printing speed — SOtps

• Colors specif icable in dot
units * 10 Inch. SO coiumns

• 4-color cassette ribbon

• Friction and pin feed

• Centronics parallel Interface

• Optional interface— RGB
video for IBM PC. RS-232C.
Apple ll/IIE.
GP-7QQVC — COMMODORE C-64 compatible

SP-800/1000 Series

The optimum partner lor email business,
educational facilities and more.

• 80 or 100cps(dralt)/20cps
(NLQ) • 10 inch, 80 columns

• Centronics parallel with
IBM character "Tractor and
iriction feed "Optional
intelligent serial interface
SP-1Q0QA — Centronics parallel
SP-i000AS — RS-232C serial
SP-1000AP- APPLE II C MACINTOSH compatible .

available aeon.
SP-10MyC-COMMODOflEC-6e/VIC-20 compatible
,, .available toon

trtm

'ive your computer
system an efficient
and cost-saving
printer.

The GP and SP range
by Seikosha. From
dedicated dot matrix
printers to

sophisticated models
incorporating the very
latest in technology.

Distributed exclusively by
DDL and available through all
leading computer dealers. For
further details of your nearest
stockist please phone
Ascot (0990) 28921

5 Kings Rkte Park,
AscotBefkiSLS 8BP

leiex 846303 OD LJU G.
THE NEW FORCE IN DISTRIBUTION

Kfrethe

Before your eyes your friends, your family are

rendered helpless, transformed to lesser beings - birds

and mice - by the invading Kremins, But by a cruel twist of

fate the transformation leaves you with the body of a bird but

the brain of a human You are the last

chance the human race has left.

Spectrum48K

Gremlin Graphics. Alpha House, 19 Carver Street, Sheffield S1 4FS. Tel: (0742) 7S34Z3

zm

Jutmny Jones,, modern day hero and explorer
extraordinaire, has finally discovered the lost Temple of
Abu Simbel, buile by the great Pharaoh Ramses II over
3000 ream ago.

In frenzied desperation he enters this secret world and is
draun iruo a frightening adventure, threatened by the
Pharaoh's curse, in constant danger until he can reach the
inner mortuary chamber.

SPECTRUM 48K £7.95

Gremlin Graphks, Alpha House, 10 Cancer Street, Sheffield SI 4FS. TeL (0742) 793423

_ ii -

I

Mt^PptoPw*

V,

T

v

t

Xr

Mi\

.>

*«

Yeh. it's me, your favourite Superstaun my first supa game! ril
need ail your help to find my furry friends in the nasty Rodent World where all kinds of monster meanies
live. Hurry now, and III see you on your screen, from your cuddly, adorable me, Roland Rat. Superstar,

SPECTRUM 48k

690

il

Otoai House bCcrxr^StFTT-f Harrhciirt M2 5N5 Telephone 06 1 B 33 <* 3 3 Telo«6*?977

Oosm i*wiTr * **l*ir from vtfcfiwl brmthn o< WOCHJWHTH tt HSMIIII /£' f ^^^S t*SK»S Aumlh-k>-i ««**T

HMlnx.Jiln nl ill Ijn.i1 -.1*1 -MM'- Hc.ltcr. Iradr CT«»I"^ «*«"»

QL Hardware World

Insider information

POTENTIAL disc users
with a QL are about to be
deluged with a range of in-
terfaces for their machines.
At least five new ones are
planned between now and
September.

The first of those is the
Insider, marketed by Silicon
Express, Having looked at
the Quest and Micro-
Peripheral systems, it is a
refreshing change.

It works faultlessly with
an odd collection of 3Vz and
5 l /4in> 40- and 80- track
drives — it can also handle
Bin drives — and, as it uses

the device name FLP, you
can swop discs between it
and a CST system.

The Insider is, in many
respects, a budget system.
The interface PCB fits into
the port on the left of the
computer leaving the disc
connector sticking out. The
advantage is that it does not
add much to the overall
length of the machine but,
unlike the CST interface,
there is no plastic cover so
dust can get in.

One good feature of the
interface is that when you
press Fl or F2 after reset-

ting it looks to the disc for a
BOOT file and, if there its no
disc present , it looks at
MDV1. Unfortunately, it
forgets to turn the disc drive
motor off when that occurs
and you have to put a disc in
to stop it.

The ROM in the interface-
adds only one extra com-
mand to SuperBask, FLP_
USE. With that you can
enter FLP_USE MDV and
the disc drives will respond
to the device name MDV.

The only problem you
might have is when running
the version LOO Psion soft-

Board with all the memories

QL Plus has increased its
range of add-on memory for
the QL to include a new
512K board. Like its other
boards, 64K 3 128K and
256K, the 512K board fits
completely inside the QL
and takes its power from the
computer.

As with all extra memory,
programs which use it, such
as the Psion suite, run much
faster. That is due to the
processor being able to use
the memory while the TV
picture is being sent out.

Unlike QL Plus's other
boards, the 512K has two
problems. They are likely to
affect any 512K board and
are the fault of the QL
rather than the board.

The board needs a fair
amount of power to drive it
and the power available
from the QL is limited. If
your power supply is low,
fitting the board can de-
grade the display. Of the
two QLs tried, one running
on a TV suffered degrada-
tion while the other, run-
ning on a monitor, was un-
affected. A two-way adaptor
will be needed if you want to
plug in both RAM and, for
example, a disc interface.

The other problem is in
the way QDOS handles ex-

tra memory. For some un-
known reason it treats 5 1 2K
add-ons differently from
other siases. That is more a
problem for software writers
but one victim is QL Chess ,
which will not run with the
board fitted.
If you need the memory

then the QL Plus board at
£S16.25 is the cheapest at
the moment. Its other
boards, 64K — £86.25,
128K — £132.25 and 256K
— £172.50 are also worth
considering.

QL Plus will shortly be
bringing out a second ver-
sion of its 256K board which
will have a ROM on the
board. The ROM will con-
tain a large portion of the
Tony Tebby Toolkit includ-
ing a RAM disc facility and
will be only £10.00-05.00
more expensive.

For further information
contact PCML Ltd, Royal
Mills, Esher, Surrey. Tel:
0372-67282.

ware from a single drive as
the programs look for a
second drive, Silicon Ex-
press has included a Super-
Basic program listing in the
instructions which converts
all occur ances of MDV2 to
MDV I, plus the instruction
to go away for two to three
hours while it runs.

For users with the Pony
Tebby Toolkit the interface
has all the machine level
hooks to implement a sector
read write, — Put and Gel
etc — plus all the other
filing. As with many other
disc interfaces the ROM was
written by Tony Tebby.

The system is plain, sim-
ple and likeable. Unfortu-
nately, in the last month the
price of £113,85 has been
overshadowed by price re-
ductions of other interfaces.
Only the combined

interface/drive package,
£249.00, remains competi-
tive.

Silicon Express Ltd,
FREEPOST, Rothlcy,

Leicester LE7 7QZ. Tel:
0533-374917.

The return of Centronics

SMC has recently joined the
ranks of QL add-on sup-
pliers and its first product is
that old faithful, the RS232
to Centronics converter.

As with nearly all the
others, it fits between the
SER1 port and a Centronics
printer and operates at the
QL default setting of 9600
baud. As the baud rate is not
switchable it could be a
problem if you want to use
SER2 at the same time, for

example with a modem.

Despite having the advan-
tage of being guaranteed for
\1 months, the price of
£39.95 is well above that
charged for the same sort of
product from other com-
panies — so shop around
before buying.

SMC Supplies, 11 West-
ern Parade, Great North
Road, Barnet, Hertfordshire
ENS IAD. Tel: 01-441-
1282.

mmr kardtaart im pan* 38

MNCLAIR USER Auguul935

11

L

QL Hardware World

Delta in a sea of discs

TECHNOLOGY Research,
which is well known to
Spectrum users for its popu-
lar Beta disc interface, has
now turned its attention to
the QL and released the
Delta interface. That looks
to be as popular ; u has a well
thought out disc interface
and parallel printer port,
RAM disc software built in
and space onboard for up to
128K extra memory.

Like most other disc in-
terfaces it is capable of sup-
porting On, 3^in and SViin
drives in either 40- or 80-
track format. As it uses the
FLP device name, discs
from other systems, such as
CST and Silicon Express,
can be used with it.

Unlike other interfaces, it
has two very useful addi-
tional features. If you put a
40-track disc in an 80-track
drive the system witl auto-

matically double step the
head so that you can read
and write to it. ff you have a
double-sided drive there is
the facility to force the sys-
tem to Format a disc as
single-sided. These features
mean that, within reason,
you can swop discs between
different systems and
drives.

As with the Silicon Ex-
press interface, Delta adds
FLP_USE to SuperBasic
plus all the various machine
level hooks — the software
was written by Tony Tebby.
There is also RAM_USE for
the RAM discs. Up to eight
separate RAM discs can be
set up.

Like the Silicon Express,
it first looks to the disc for a
boot program, then the mic-
rodrive. But unlike Silicon
Express it remembers to
turn the drive off.

The unit is quite small,
not much bigger than the
CST interface, and is
housed in a plastic cover.
The onboard memory takes
its power from the QL and
does not require an extra
power supply.

The Delta interface is
priced at a verv competitive
£129.50 including VAT;
with 64K £199.50 or 128K
£249.50. It does not have

the range of Toolkit com-
mands that the CST inter-
face has but those can be
purchased separately —
members of IQLUG can get
them for only £1.00. It is
good value and could knock
CST from the top spot.

Technology Research
Ltd, Unit 18, Central Trad-
ing Estate, Staines, Mid-
dlesex TW18 4XE. Tel:
0784-63547.

OPUS WILL MAKE YOU A
BETTER ORGANISER
FOR. ONLY £60

Getting organised couldn't be easier. Phone us on
0737 65080 or simply post the coupon be-low.

If your micro system is starting to get out of hand a
smart organiser could be the solution to your
problems.

At just £59.95 the Organiser desk from Opus
Supp I ies wil I help to organ ise you r system
beautifully, it's purpose built to provide plenty of
storage space and because it's produced alongside
our range of executive computer desking it offers
a level of quality you'll appreciate.

Shelving accommodates your monitor, printer
computer, disc drive or cassette recorder and
software, and the teak-finished unit is fitted with
castors to make it fully mobile. The Organiser's
assembled dimensions are: H. 31", W, 40% * and
D. 26".

And our price includes VAT and FREE DELIVERY.

The Organiser desk is suitable for use with all
leading home micros including the BBC, Amstrad,
Commodore and Sinclair computers.

To; Opus Supplies Ltd.

55 Onnside Way. Hplmetfrorpe Industrial Estate, RedhM, Surrey.

Please rush m* the following
(PRICES INCLUDE VAT AND CARRIAGE)

, Organiser Deskfs) at £59.9 5 each line. VAT)

(enclose a cheque far £ or please debit my

credit Card ateotM* with th* amount of £ ,

My Access j Barclaycard : < (please tick i no is -

Name_

"V.1-,lri"-s

TV-k'uhonc .

SUB/OSS

Opus.

55 OrmskJe Way,
Hoimethorpe Industrial
Estate. RedhHI. Surrey

TELEPHOflf OTJMWO

Z J

38

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

Hardware World —

Disc system
with mother

WITH the recent flood of
disc interfaces for the Spec-
trum the Gordon Micro-
frame has been Largely over-
looked. Although at £149. 50
inclusive it is the most ex-
pensive it does have more
potential than the others and
can be built up into a very
comprehensive system.

The Microframe is a disc-
based motherboard system
with a range of plug-in
cards. A number of cards
are under development at
the moment, ranging from a

simple Centronics interface
through A to D, D to A,
RS232 — for use with a
modem — to I/O cards suit-
able for robotics.

The disc interface soft-
ware is held on disc and
booted into 16K of onboard
RAM. That RAM is paged
when a syntax error occurs.
That means that not only is
the DOS easily changeable
but also that you can extend
the Spectrum Basic; for ex-
ample, the I/O boards can
be driven using a Logo-like
language.

As a disc system it is old
fashioned in that it only uses
single density. That, typi-
cally, gives 98K for storage
on a 40 track, single-sided
drive, and up to four drives
can be used.

Doffing caps at keyboard

THE DK'tronics keyboard
has undergone many design
changes since it was first
introduced for the ZX-S1,
but it has always retained
stuck-on legends. DK'tro-
nics has now relented, and
printed keycaps are avail-
able as an optional extra for
the Spectrum keyboard.

The caps are printed in
one colour, black, although
the caps themselves are grey
for the main keyboard, and
red for the numeric pad.

Fitting the caps is simply
a case of pulling the old ones
off and pressing the new
ones on. Instructions are not
included, which would have
been useful as you could
damage something by being
heavy handed.

For only £6.00 inclusive
the caps are good value if
you own a DK'tronics
keyboard. If not, they could
tip the scales in its favour if
you are about to buy.

Three-colour printed caps

might have been preferable,
even at a few pounds more,
but it is a step in the right
direction.

DK'tronics Ltd } Unit 6,
Shirehill Industrial Estate,
Saffron Walden, Essex
CB11 3AQ. Tel: 0799-
26350.

All the necessary com-
mands are available: Load,
Save and Verify for Basic,
Code and Data plus Format
and Erase. Open and Close
are soon to be added. As it
does not take up any of the
Spectrum memory, even for
a buffer, transferring soft-
ware to disc is relatively
easy. Gordon expects to re-
lease commercial software
on the system soon.

The motherboard has
been well thought out and it
is quite straightforward to
add your own boards.

The manual is compre-
hensive and gives details of
all the relevant pin outs plus
a description of what each
one is used for. There are
example programs, with

some simple ones on disc,
including one showing how
to extend the Basic.

Although the board can
be powered from the Spec-
trum Gordon does not re-
commend it as the toler-
ances arc tight. It is de-
signed to be powered from
disc drives and, if those
need power, Gordon sup-
plies a supply for £63.25 inc.

The system is expensive,
as you are paying for facili-
ties that you are unlikely to
use. In education, however,
those facilities would be
used to the full.

Gordon Microframe Ltd,
3 Callendar Road, Heath-
field Industrial Estate, Ayr,
Scotland KA8 9DJ, Tel:
0292-280467

Button-down transfers

INTERFACE III is a com-
bined hardware and soft-
ware package which allows
you to transfer a program.

Once the program is
loaded a button on the inter-
face is pressed and a special
copy is then put out to tape.
After resetting;, the interface
software is loaded and the
copy reloaded.

Interface III priced at

£39.95 is awkward to use,
requiring a lot of loading,
saving and resetting.

Micro Centre, Bridge
Street, Evesham , Worces-
tershire, Tel: 0386-49641.

Rock-bottom 32K upgrades

ALTHOUGH Sinclair is no
longer building 16K Spec-
trtims, some shops still have
few left in stock and are
selling them at bargain
prices, in some cases for as
litde as £69.95. Upgrade
prices are also coming down
so if you are prepared for a
little DIY you could end up

with new 48K Spectrum for
only £89.95.

The cheapest upgrade we
have found is the Citadel
32 K memory expansion,
£20.00 to readers of Sinclair
User, £24.00 to everyone
else, including VAT and
p&p. It has an advantage in
that it uses 64K chips,

rather than 32 K, so that if
you buy the TV Services of
Cambridge system, you get
two 32 K pages of memory.
First catch a 16K Spec-
trum, then contact Citadel
Products Ltd, 50 High
Street, Edgware, Middlesex
HAS 7EP. Tel: 01-951 1848.

more tiardtvare on page 40

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

»

— Hardware World

Transformation

TRANSFORM is consi-
dered by many to have pro-
duced the Rolls Royce of the
add-on keyboards for the
Spectrum.

While other keyboard
companies have reduced
prices, or even stopped pro-
ducing since the launch of
the Spectrum Plus, Trans-
form has shrugged it aside,
improved its keyboard, and
increased die price to £79.95.

The improvements are
the inclusion of four shifted
cursor keys and an addition-
al Caps Shift to the right of
the bottom row of keys,
matching the one on the left,
The numeric pad has been
altered to include a Full
Slop and an additional linter
key. The old single key
functmns on the main key-
board are retained,

Inside, the additional in-

terface required by some
Spectrum Issue 5 users is
fitted as standard. The pow-
er supply now has to be
connected to the keyboard,

Slow moving joystick device

THE NIDD Valley Slo-
mo was a good idea, as was
the Kemps ton joystick stan-
dard. DK'ironics has
brought out the Games Play-
er, a combined slow motion/
Kempston compatible joys-
tick interface.

The Kempston standard
is available on most popular
games and the ability to slow
down a game to a manage-

able speed is a boon to
finger-bruised alien zappers.

The interface has a joy-
stick socket , speed control
and slow motion on/off
switch on the top. Unlike
Slotno you can not freeze the
action completely but you
can slow it down more than
enough for most needs, At
£14.95 it is good value.

Meanwhile Nidd Valley

has stated that if their UK
Patent application is suc-
cessful slow motion
peripherals will only be
available from them. The
ensuing wrangle could be
interesting.

DK'ironics, Unit 6,
Shir chill Industrial Estate,
Saffron Walden, Essex
CB11 3AQ. Tel: 0799-
26350,

a lead then plugs into the
back of the Spectrum. The
redesign, and the metal
case, results in the keyboard
weighing over 3kg even be-
fore the Spectrum is fitted, a
veritable heavyweight.

The Transform is de-
finitely for the serious user;
the key switches alone cost
the manufacturer more than
the Spectrum Plus upgrade,
and it is the only keyboard
with three-colour key caps.
Transform might not sell
many keyboards at that
price but there are times
when only the best will do.

Transform Ltd, 24 West
Oak, Beckenham, Kent
BR3 2EZ. Tel: 01-658 6350.

VJSA

Announcing the B R5 S|

miRRGE
miCRODRIVER

At the louch of a button you can transfer^ your programs onto Microdrive

cartridge.

Al last the Full potential and speed of the ZX Microdrives can be realised by

ail 48K Special m and Spectrum + owners, for only £39. 95.

Features:

* Transfer any program onto Microdrive cartridge.

* Freeze any ■game at any point, save It, and restore II later.

* Use the "POKE" facility to give your sett Infinite live* etc.

The Mirage Microdmer consisls of a HAM PACK style case which
simply plugs onto Ihe rear of the ZX Interface 1. An expansion
connector is provided lor Ihe connection ol other peripherals. The
software has been designed to be easy to use and is menu driven, it
resides orv a 4K ROM contained within the Mtcrodriver so (here is no
fussing with tapes to get it to run. Al you need to do is press Ihe
button on the side

Nota: Trill unit t» Intended to* software owners (o transfer Inelr own programs
onto miOTOdnV* cartridge* for lf iii d end MM Of ecceaa. Programs uved using
the Mirage Mlerpdriver are unread**** unlets the Microdrive* Is present.

How to Order

Send a cheque for £44.95, including £5 for postage and packing, to the
address below, or use your Access or Visa card Dy telephoning (0376)
48321 la place your order immediately
Pieasa allow za days for delivery.

y MIRAGE

A

Micro computers

Limited

24 Bank Street,
Braintree,
Essex CM7 7UL
Tel: (0376) 43321

Ro Ironies
Portable Case

■ 23" k IS' Cubed loam

■ Holds Spectrum
and peripherals

■ Cuuipanenrr, work
m silu

AH p»icf s iidirdf VA T andp i p. P*as* marks
yaw ctaquc'PO paydblc In 5H' Or uua!c
flccass Ed-i.:ldifCJid number Wrilt mw mmt
and adurrss ctaaily Please allow 28 Oafs hrr
ttMYt'f SIKT Fflftposi Gr*Bns Norton,
TawCKfor tlrnlhanls . NN12 SBR

40

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

The SAGA 1 EMPEROR has 67 keys which enable easy access to every function. The SAGA 1 EMPEROR
makes obsolete the "stretch requirement" of other keyboards and enhances the ability to touch type. For
Business or pleasure the Emperor will make your computing time more productive and enjoyable. Now
available for the Spectrum + ONLY £49.95

FOR GREAT GRAPHICS . . .

LflUTYMENU COLOUR MENU

YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE STYLE! ^

Whether you are 5 or 95, using joystick or GP, full

colour STYLE puts you in direct command of your

graphics. Already in use in software houses and educational

establishments, uses range from screen design to Business to pure fun. Our unique design e!tm

endless reading of manuals. STYLE displays all options on screen, enabling you to start designi

from menu to menu fast, with some very useful built in routines, STYLE offers exceptional vaiue

containing both Software and full Kempston compatible hardware for GP or Joystick operation.

STYLE £29.95 SAGA GP £79.95 (Graphics tablet for Style)

i nates
ng and flip
for money,

SOUNDBOOST

Connect and go system
puts adjustable sound
through your TV
Speaker ONLY £9.95

FLEXICABLE

Now with two connector
ports, exceptional value, a
must for add-ons
ONLY £12.95

DUSTCOVER

Keep your equipment clean
and smart, our popular
dustcover does this and
more ONLY £4.95

PERSONAL CARRIER

Or how to slore your equipment, our
PCI is capable of holding computer,
peripherals, magazines and
software, arid makes everything
neat and portable
A MUST at ONLY E26.95

Please
send me

the
following
products:

Available across the UK and from retailers
in the following countries:
AUSTRALIA — BELGIUM — DENMARK —
FINLAND — FRANCE — HOLLAND —
GERMANY — ITALY — SPAIN — SWEDEN
NEW ZEALAND — SWITZERLAND

Tel; (04862) 22977 Telex; 8813467

Pi fiacQ U 'SAGA 1 EMPEROR at £49.95 (48K or +?)
n *SAGA GP at £79.95
STYLE at £29.95 (inc P&P)
DUSTCOVER at £4,95 (inc P&P)
SOUNDBOOST at £9.95 (inc P&P)
FLEXICABLE at £12.95 (inc P&P)
■PERSONAL CARRIER at £26.95

'Please add £1 .50 UK or £4.50 overseas Post and Packing
DEPT SAGA SYSTEMS LIMITED, 2 EVE

ROAD, WOKING, SURREY GU21 4JT
Name ADDRESS

AMOUNT ENCLOSED £

f

My Access Card No. is [
IGNATURE

i i i i i i i i i i i i r I

DATE

SUB

Delivery promised within 28 Days

QWCKSHOT It AUTO RAPlOFmi JOYSTICK

SPECTRUM INU

■i

■m^m^m

SPECTRUM UPGRADE KIT

-J£

"RBOWTfRFACF

Four great new add-ons from Ram, Number One in
everything for the Spectrum. . ,
TURBO INTERFACE

Our unique Turbo Interface outperforms any Spectrum
interface - it works with ROM cartridges, 2 standard joysticks,
and there's a full expansion bus at the rear. The Turbo supports
Kempston, Protekand Interface 2 software and loads from
cassette - or instantly from a ROM cartridge. It really makes
the most of the Quickshot ll"s rapid-fire action, and with a
unique built-in power safety device, it's amazing value at
just £22,95.
QUICKSHOT II AUTO RAPID-FIRE JOYSTICK

The famous Quickshot II is the top games joystick, with a
sleek trigger fire button for quick reactions, an auto fire switch
for continuous shooting and a new, improved grip.
Revolutionary built-in stabilising suction cups mean a sure, firm
grip -a snip at £955

SPECTRUM INTERFACE

Boost the power of your Spectrum, or Spectrum + .
This Kempston-compatible interface gets the most from your
games- electrify your enemies with real power and
lightning-fast reactions right under your fingertips.
Costs just £9,95,
SPECTRUM UPGRADE KIT

If you've a 16K Spectrum micro, this handy and
inexpensive add-in kit boosts the RAM memory to a powerful
48 K, so you can run the latest and greatest software, the most
exciting games around - and expand your own programming
possibilities! Only £21 .95.

Where can you get your hands on Ram's amazing
Spectrum add-ons? You can see them at branches of Boots.
Menzies. Spectrum Group computer centres, and good
computer stores everywhere, Or return the coupon below,

To: RAM Electronics {Fleet} Ltd (Dept SU I JOB Fleet
Road, Fleet Hampshire GUIS SPA

Credit Card hot tine: 0251425252. (Access & Visa).

Address

Please send me

Spectrum Turbo Interface(s) at £22.95.

Quickshot II Joystick® at £9 95.

Spectrum Interfaces) at £9.95.

Spectrum Upgrade Kit(s} at £2 1 ,95.
(Please -state issue 2 □ Of SO)

+£lper order P+P{£3 Qvme<>$) TOTAL £

□ I enclose cheque/postal order D charge my Access/Visa

g rin

n

Expiry Date_

Postcode

Telephone

24 Hour despatch tor credrt cards and postal outers (7 days for cheques.)
All products are I ully compatible with trie Spectrum. Spectrum +
and Sinclair Microdrive*.
RamEI«±ioiYi(FlH4LM|DcplSU 1. 106FIMI Read. fin*. H»np5lw?CuUBWL

^^ m Trade and export enquiries weto

J

welcome

"II

J

^

H

EB

SPECTRUM 48K
AMSTRAD 464

£9.95

GARGOYLE GAMES LTD.. 74 KING STREET. DUDLEY, WEST MIDLANDS DV2 8QB
f Hirphoiuj ISiiltts} 0384 238777 (General} 0384 237222

Acute add-on allergy?
Chronic hardware headaches?
Don f t suffer in silence —
write to Sinclair Surgery.

Sinclair Surgery

Spare slot
required

I WOULD like to buy a
Hantrex 1 2m high resolution,
green screen, composite video
monitor. My present system
consists of Spectrum, Wafad-
rive, Kempston Centronics
Interface E and a Shinwa
CP80 Printer, How can I
connect a monitor to the edge
connector when ail edge con-
nectors are occupied?

1 believe that some change
has to be made to the Spec-
trum to take the monitor.

A Richards,
Taunton, Somerset
# You need a two-way edge
connector to give you a spare
sloi — the Currah Microslot
from DlCtwnks (0799 26350)
priced £7.95 would be suitable
— and a mttmtar lead. Trans-
form (01-658 6350) can supply
one for £U SO,

Spectrum Plus
minus Guide

I HAVE recendy bought a
Spectrum Plus but I am dis-
appointed with the new style
User Guide, CouJd you re-
commend a good book for the
Spectrum that would help me
with advanced Basic prog-
ramming and which goes into
assembly language and
machine code, or is there
anywhere that sells the origin-
al Spectrum User Guide separ-
ately?

Sam Clifford,
Ivybridge,
Devon
9 The original manual can be
obtained from CPC, 194-200,
North Road, Preston, Lanes —
£2 MI — the introduction book-
let is 88 pence. Unfortunately
they have a minimum charge of
£5,00 plus £3.25 handling plus
VAT — £9,49.
You could ftv Spectrum

Machine Language for the
Absolute Beginner, Mel-
bourne House i £6.95.

Look before
you leap

PLEASE advise me on what
to look for in a good modem;
the facilities and interfaces
they require and the advan-
tages and disadvantages of
those systems.

Anil Malhotra,
Billericay, Essex

You seem to be going about
this in the wrong way. First you
should decide what you wans to
do with a modem and then you
should start looking at hard-
ware. Otherwise you will end
up paying for facilities you will
never use.

Dead flesh
revitalised

1 HAVE been considering
upgrading my Spectrum's
rubber keyboard to a proper
keyboard. Are there any up-
grade keyboards available
with do not use the Spec-
trum's old keyboard matrix?
ts it possible to buy a power
supply separately and at what
price?

Brenden Gorman,
County Down,
Northern Ireland
9 None of the full-sized
keyboards for the Spectrum use
the original membrane. Power
supplies can be obtained from
TV Services of Cambridge,
Frenches Road, Cambridge or
CPC, 194-200, North Road,
Preston, Lancashire.

48 into 16
won't go?

I HAVE a Sinclair 16K Spec-
trum, The serial number is
001-239113, which 1 assume

is an Issue 1.

Am I able to obtain an
internally fitted upgrade to
48 K? From where? Most
advertisements state Issues 2
or 3 only.

D T Brooks,
Park Gate,
Southampton
% If it is an Issue I Spectrum
you will be lucky to find an
internal memory upgrade for it.
The serial number is not a good
indication. Look m the back at
the edge connector; if there are
chips close to the edge connector
then it is a 2 or 3.

Head needs
examining

CAN YOU tell me if it is
possible to pnnl out alongside
a microdrive CATaloguc, in-
formation on whether a prog-
ram is Basic, CODE, or
DATA? JRMackaiU,

Scunthorpe,
South Humberside
% In order to get that informa-
tion you have to look at the file
header on the microdrive can-
ridge. Master youi ZX Mic-
rodrive by Andy Pennell from
Sunshine Publications —
£6.95 — contains a suitable
program.

Spectrum's
icy blasts

I RECENTLY had my Spec-
trum Plus returned from
Sinclair after a replacement
keyboard was fitted and now
find that over-heating prob-
lems occur.

Programs crash for no
apparent reason, the screen
display occasionally becomes
distorted and even Scrabble
makes up words that it will
not accept later.

Those problems disappear
after a blast of cold air from a
hair-dryer, only to return 20
minutes later. What can be

done about it?

G Twidale, Scunthorpe,
South Humberside

9 If it does not work, send it
back with a covering letter
outlining the problems. If can
only get worse.

Address

unknown

I AM building a general pur-
pose I/O port for my Spec-
trum and am puzzled by the
I/O signals produced. The
manual states that only the
first five address lines are
used by the Spectrum, and
three more — A ? — *A 7 — can
be used for other external
devices.

I have checked the status of
those last three lines and it
appears that A^ and A 7 are
constantly active, while A s
remains inactive until the
keyboard is used,

Philip Clegg,

Camberley,

Surrey

The Spectrum Hardware
Manual by Adrian Dickens,
£5.95 from Melbourne House,
shows you how w add a Z8Q
PlO to the Spectrum and gives
details of which lines are free.

One size
fits some

1 BOUGHT a Spectrum Plus
upgrade kit and when 1 tried
to attach my Kempston inter*
face and joystick, it would not
fit. 1 1 looks as though I will
have to buy a ribbon con-
nector,

D N Tandziel,
Middlesborough ,
Cleveland
9 Although electrically there is
no great difference between a
Spectrum and Spectrum Plus
they are physically different and
some add-ons wUl not fit in the
back of a Plus. If possible
check before buying.

SINCLAIR 0SER August 1985

45

ONE OF THE biggest problems
when using 280 machine code
is finding places to put
numbers. In Basic, there are plenty of
variables and arrays which can be used
to store data, but in ZSO there are just
a few registers.

One way around that is to use an
instruction:

LD (address), register
which would place the value of the
register into the contents of the
specified address. A belter method,
however, is known as the 'stack'.

A stack is a type of data structure,
in much the same way as an array, list*
queue and so on. With an array, you
tell the computer which element you
want by giving the array subscripts.
With a list, you start at the 'head' and
move towards the 'tail'. A queue is
known as a First In First Out (FIFO)
structure because you add items to the
end of the queue and take them away
from the start.

A stack is a Last In First Out
(UFO) structure- Imagine a stack of
plates. Trying to take a plate from the
middle of the stack is likely to have
disastrous results. You will probably
also have problems if you try to put a
plate into the middle. You can only
safely place and remove plates from
the top. In Z80 machine code, those
operations are known as PUSH and
POP,

ZRO only allows you to PUSH and
POP two registers at a time, giving the
instructions:

PUSH AF ; POP AF

PUSH BC ; POP BC

PUSH DE ; POP DE

PUSH HL ; POP HL

So, for example, the code

LD HL, 1234

PUSH HL

LDHL, 4321
would leave HL containing the
number 4321. However, if we now
execute the instruction

POPHL
then the number 1234 will be restored
to HL. One interesting point is that
the stack does not know which
registers it has stacked ; all it has done
is place two bytes onto the stack.
Therefore, instead of the last
instruction, we could just as easily
use, say,

POPBC
which would overwrite the contents of
the BC registers with the number
1234.

The main point to remember when
using PUSHes and POPs is that they

Shaping up with
stacks of data

How to store data in Z80 code;

Marcus Jeffery fills in

on assemblers and

colours in

shapes

must always
a matching pair.
If you allow values to
be stacked without POPping,
the area set aside for the
stack will eventually run out of room.
The location of the top of the stack
is held in a register pair called,
surprisingly, the Stack Pointer, which
is abbreviated to SP. Bearing that in
mind, another useful instruction is

EX (SF), HL
which will exchange the last two bytes
placed on the stack with the contents
of the HL register pair,

Remember

that the brackets

indicate that we want the

'contents of the location

addressed by' the contents
of the Stack Pointer, not the contents
of the Stack Pointer. Those
instructions are shown at the end of
the article in figure four. That also
shows a few other instructions which
operate on the Stack Pointer, though
you're unlikely to find those very
useful as yet.

Though your use of the stack is
likely to be limited to the above
instructions under most

circumstances, it is far more flexible.
For example, you will have noticed
the instructions CALL and RET in
recent programs. Those act in the
same way as GO SUB and RETURN

Figure 1

10 CLEAR 59999

ZO GO SUB 1000

30 CLB

tl.O CIRCLE 120,100,20

50 POKE 23726,1201 POKE 13729.
100

go RANDOMIZE USR 60000
100 STOP
lOOO HEM HEX LOAD ROUTINE
1010 DEF FN p<H>-CODl n*< * ) -1*6-7
*(CODE h*(x)>-65)
1020 LET bytm-o
1,030 RESTORE 2000
1040 READ it*pi
1050 REAP h*

1060 IF h*."*" THEN GO TO II60
1070 IF LEI* H*<>2*INT (LEI* H*/2 J

THEN PRINT "Odd number Of h*H
flltita in: " : n» I STOP
1060 FOR 1-1 TO LEW n*
I090 IF HOT <[htU>>-"0" AND hf<
l><-"9") OR <h»{i>>-"A" AND htli
)<-"D) THEN PRINT "111***1 rt
ax dial CI "Sh*(l>: STOP
H oq NEXT 1

1110 FOR 1-1 TO LEU h* STEP 2
1120 POKE start *byte. 16*FN (*(!>-»

FN p ( i * 1 >

1130

LET byte>bytc>l

1U0

NEXT

1

1 15Q

QO TO 1950

1160

PRINT "Cods entered"

1170

PAUSE 150

1160

RETURN

£000

DATA

60000. "ECUBBOSC"

2010

DATA

■"CD66EA**, "C*"

2020

DATA

"C&". "CD6EEA" . "CI"

2D3Q

DATA

"iF", "A6", "CO", "7B"

2040

DATA

"CDBEEA" . "C5" , "Od"

2D JO

DATA

"3IBD", "90", "CJififiEA"

2060

DATA

"CI", "C^ H . "05"

l?Q70

DATA

,, E46BEA","C1"."C5"

■ io5

DATA

"SC", "C46BEA". "CI"

2090

DATA

" , OD","E*l6aEA","C9"

2100

DATA

"79", "E607" , "5F"

2110

DaTa

■•eflag-, "efl39","*cB39"

2120

DATA

"3EAF" , "go", «U7«

2130

DATA

"E£3B". "C»27". "CB27"

a 1 1 d

DATA

"14", "AF" "7A","E607"

2150

DATA

"67". "7 8". "E*C0"

2160

DATA

* , CB3F' , ."CB3F*\ "C63F"

2170

DATA

"an", "e&tio" . "67" . "J13"

2180

DATA

"0*1". "AF", "37"."CftX*'"

2190

DATA

"10FC". "C9"

3200

DATA

"flfi", "77". "C9" ,"*■■

46

SINCLAIR USER August IMS

Machine Code

in Spectrum Bask. The instruction

CALL address
transfers execution to the specified
address, and

RET
returns to the instruction immediately
following the CALL. However, when
thai happens* the computer has got to
know where to return to.
Consequently, when the CALL
instruction is executed^ the computer
PUSHes the value of the location
following the CALL statement onto
the stack. Then^ when a RETurn
statement is found, the stack is
POPped to tell the computer which
code to execute next.

Now we are ready for this month's
example program, which will allow
you to fill in any shape on the screen.
To run this just type in "and run the
Basic program in figure one — the
Hex Loader is the same as usual. To
use the routine generally, POKE the
x-eoordinate into locadon 23728 and
the y-coordinate into 23729. Those

two locations among the system
variables — User Guide, page 130 —
are normally unused.

Figure two shows the equivalent in
assembly code. The PBYTE routine
takes the screen coordinates V and 'y'
— in C and B, respectively — and
calculates the coordinates of the screen
byte, placing the result into the HL
register pair. In addition, a single bit
is set in the A register, corresponding
to the bit within die HL byte which
represents the (x^y) coordinate. The
letters in brackets, given in the
comments on the right-hand side of
the listing, refer to figure three, which
should help to explain how the BC
coordinates are convened into the HL
location.

The routine works by filling in the
(x,y) pixel — assuming that it is not
already filled — then doing the same
for the pixels to the North, South,
East and West. Those in turn, if filled,
will fill in four directions, and so on.

In that way, the whole shape is

Figure 2

ORG
LOAD

60000
60000

E*fiO ED»BB05C FILL

LD

BC. (813728)

;3ct start caordln*t«i

EAo* CD6SEA

CALL

FBYTB

iFlll rrtm tia*-e

EAa? C?

RET

iftETum to BASIC

BAGS CS TiVTS

PUSH

BC

! Stack BC *

&A6? CDBEEA

CALL

PBVT1

IKL = Screen addFtii

KAoC CI

POP

BC

: Restore- BC (cosrdln*t«i) ■

Ea6D 5f

LD

E. A

i Save A (bit hhK) *

EA&E A6

AND

(HL)

:If Scrcvrt bit net empty.

EAiF CO

RET

HZ

: thinn RET UP in

EA70 7B

LD

A, E

5 R*ttt>P« A *

tA?l CDBEEA

CALL

P3CRH

iFUL the tcrten pulni

EA7U C5

PUSH

BC

i Stack coordlnata *

EA75 al

INC

B

: Look HORTH

EA76 3ESO

LD

A, 176

EA78 90

SUB

B

EA79 C«*Sl*

CALL

KE.P&YTE

EA7C CI

POP

BC

:Hmtart coordinate *

EA7D C5

PUSH

ac

:St»ck ctordliute *

EA7E 0-S

DEC

B

; Leak SOUTH

EA7F EflfcoEA

CALL

PO.FBYTE

EAB2 CI

POP

BC

i Restore e o o r d. I n *r * *

EAfiJ Cb

PUSH

BC

iStecfc eedtdintti *

EAEJJ OC

IMC

C

j Look EAST

EAS5 C&6BEA

CALL

NZ.FBVTE

EA8S CI

POP

ac

tRcatBM coordinate *

EAfl* OO

btSrC

c

: Look WEST

EaSA E46SEA

CALL

PO, EBYTE

EA9D C9

BET

EASE 79 PBYTE

LD

a. •:

EASE EG07

AND

7

;Qet bit In bvt* (b!

EA91 5F

LD

E. A

EA»J CH35

SRL

C

:Oet (a) in rBiitttP C

E*5« CB39

BML

c

EA96 CB39

SRL

c

EA?S TEAT

LD

A. 175

[Convert y- coord, to give

EA9A 90

SUB

■

1 (O.O) at too-ltf i

EA9B 47

LD

i.A

EA.9C Efi3fl

AMI.

&6

: Oat <d) lt> raelatar- A

EA9E CB27

SLA

A

EAAO C&27

SLA

A

EAAJ Bl

OR

C

:<Jet (d)»[») In rt(. A

EAAS fiF

LD

L.A

: than acvt to pet, L

EAA4 7fi

LD

A, B

EAA5 E607

AND

7

< G* t (a) In rcflittr A

EAA7 67

LD

H,A

: Place t»mpor*.ril*< in H

EAA0 7$

LD

A.B

EM9 E6CO

AND

192

:3a* lc) lrt Mjlsttr A

EAAB CBJF

SUL

A

i Hovn to coaltlcn

EAAD CB3F

SRL

A

EAAF CD3P

SRL

A

EAbl a*

ADO

H

; Add ( • )

£A»S C64

AMI'

6*1

: Add ■cr = en base addreaa

EAB4 A7

UP

H, A

; Place In register H

EAB5 43
EAB6 Oi

LP

B. E

;B - bit in Hytt {*-''!
|B - bit In tsyta (1-S^

INC

B

EAB7 AF

XOft

A

; Clears A rtil^ter

EAh& 37

BCP

;Set ssrrr flat, then

EAB9 CB1K PBLOOP RB

A

rotate- ffirry Into

EA&B 10FC

PJNZ

PBLOOP

i bit position In A

EABD C9

RET

; RETurn

EASE Bfi PS CRN

Oft

(HL)
(HL) .A

;Set screen bit by ORitie

EABF 77

LD

naak n*i t h cunent screen

BACO C9

RET

END

WDFKtrt* - AflQO to

A95*

org end - EAC1

LOAD *nd - EACl

Figure 3

•<8it it*

Bv#t*

V* ■ t7«-y

x <a^

.. <u>

1

„• | < c > ; <d>-

i :<->'

1

H |B|1

9| C^>

■<#>

1

L i w i :

<a>

1

tilled. By writing a general routine —
FBYTE — to carry out the operation,
it can 'call itself to fill to the North,
South, East and West!

Remember that the return locations
from the CALLs are all stacked, so the
routine always knows where to return
to. The only problem is that the (x,y)
coordinates in BC would be
overwritten, so we must stack those
too. The comments marked with
asterisks show which instructions are
connected with saving and restoring
values — imagine how messy that
would be without the stack!

That is by no means the quickest
way of filling shapes, but is probably
quick enough for most purposes. You
might like to try it out in Basic, You
can easily implement a stack, as
follows:

1 DIM s(1000)

2 LET sp =

PUSH; 1000 LET s(sp) = xcoord

1010 LETs<sp+l) = ycoord
1020 LETsp = sp + 2
1030 RETURN
POP: 2000 LET sp = sp-2

2010 LET ycoord = s(sp+ 1)
2020 LET xcoord = s(sp)
2030 RETURN
The major problem with this method
of filling shapes is that it uses
enormous amounts of stack space. If
you try to fill large shapes on the
screen, you may find the whole
computer crashing as the stack runs
out of space. The easy way to avoid
that is to split large spaces into a
number of smaller shapes.

Assemblers

If you are sufficiently attracted to the

advantages of using machine code,

then you will probably consider

purchasing an Assembler package.

The assembly code listings given in

these articles use Spectre-Mac-Mon

from Oasis Software, but other

assemblers may have slightly different

formats,

Assembly code is usually divided

into a number of fields. Those are

LABEL MNEMONIC

OPERAND COMMENT

In some cases, such as the Zeu;-

continued on page 48

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

47

Machine Code

continued f mm page 47

Assembler from Sinclair Research,
the source listing also contains line
numbers, as in Basic. The first thing
to look for is the method of entering
those formatted instructions.
On-screen editors arc obviously very
useful. One very important feature is
the use of labels — don't buy it if it
doesn't use them.

In addition to the normal Z80

mnemonic

instructions.

most

assemblers include 'pseudo-oper-
ations'. Those include such
mnemonics as ORG, to tell the
computer where in memory to
assemble the code. EQU allows
constants to be assigned label names,
making the listing more readable. DB
— or similar — standing for Define
Bytc> allows memory locations to be
initialised to particular values.

It is often possible to define
'macros', which allow you to assign a

Figure 4: New ZSO instruction codes

FUSHrp

— place the register pair (AF, BC, DE, HL:

onto the top of the stack

POPrp

— remove ihc top two bytes from the top

of the stack, placing the ton [cms

into the register pair (AF, BC, DE, HL).

EX (SP), HL

— exchange the two bytes from the top

of the stack with the contents of the

HL register pair.

Of the instructions we have seen so far, the following can also be used with the Stack.

ADD HL, SP

— add the Stack Pointer to the HL

register pair.

DECSP

— decrement the Stack Pointer by one.

INC SP

— increment the Stack Pointer bv one.

LD SP, (addr)

— set the Stack Pointer to the contents

of the specified address.

LD SP, dau

— place the given data into the Suck

Pointer.

LD SP.HL

— set the Stack Pointer to the contents

of the HL register pair.

LD (addr), SP

— place the contents of the Stack

Pointer into the given address.

name to a sequence of instructions,
Conditional assembly allows you to
decide whether certain pieces of code
are assembled at assembly -time. Many
more features may be found, varying
between assemblers.

Many assemhJers include

'monitors'. Those allow you to
examine memory, while running
machine code. Though not absolutely
necessary, the more serious machine
code user will find those invaluable.
Some important additional features to
look for are the setting of 'break
points', single-stepping, examination
of registers, intelligent copy, modify
memory and disassembly.

When converting listed programs
lor your own assembler, the two main
points to check are;

The Format: assemblers differ in
the fields, length of labels, format of
numbers, and so on;

The Memory: assemblers arc likely
to use different areas of memory. For
instance, the routines given have all
started from location 60000. However,
the Zeus Assembler uses that as
workspace, so the routines should be
changed to start at, say, 30000.

In all cases, check with the
documentation given with your
assembler.

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48

SINCLAIR USER August WHS

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51

THOSE GOLDEN DAYS when
you could buy a personal fleet
of flash cars with the massive
earnings from Alien Attack are long
gone — if indeed they were ever here.
It is not as easy as it was to get your
programs accepted by software
houses, and even if you are successful,
you wilJ be lucky to afford a second-
hand C5, let alone the proverbial
Porsche. Writing software is as time
consuming as ever — getting it pub-
lished is a different ball game

altogether and very frustrating.

A potential hit game has to combine
originality with good graphics and
instant play ability. However, the
quality of programming has improved
dramatically in the Jast three years
with games like Ultimate 's Knight
Lore, and it is becoming increasingly
difficult for amateur programmers to
come up with the goods.

Once a program has been completed
to your satisfaction, you will want to
send if off for evaluation. Software

houses tend to specialise in programs
of a particular kind, whether they are
arcade games, adventures, simulations,
utilities or strategy games. Although
many software houses publish prog-
rams from several categories, it is best
to pick publishers most suited to the
software you have written.

Software publishers can also be
divided into two further categories —
those which deal in top of the range
games and those which deal with
budget software. Again, a number of

52

SINCLAIR USER Augvu 19»S

I

Programs for Profit

companies produce both.

Mike Cohen > managing director of
Lothlorien says, "Up to a year ago, we
were being sent games which we could
put out. The market then became
more critical and a higher standard is
now demanded- Meanwhile, budget
software surged forward and young-
sters got their games accepted because
of the budget ranges,"

Andrew Hewson of Hewson Con-
sultants feels strongly against pocket
money software, "We're not in-
terested in the budget range because
of the aura associated with it." He
feels that if a game is good, it deserves
to be marketed at a reasonable price.

Although everything depends on
programming quality, it is easier to gel
your first attempts accepted by a
budget software house than one deal-
ing with more complex software

submitted wasn't too boring/' One
program submitted was a BMX bike
game which had the spectators moving
while the bike remained still.

Many larger companies employ
teams of in-house programmers, or
freelance programming houses, to
produce their software and very rarely
use programs sent in for evaulation.
"Lots of programmers don't have the
three arts — programming, music and

"It is easier to

get accepted by a

budget software

house at first"

graphics," explains Ocean's Paul Fin-
nigan. Special teams are put together
to work on each game, dealing exclu-
Two such companies arc Mastertro- sively with those three areas.

ok and Firebird, which publishes its
Silver range, "Budget software pro-
vides an opportunity for new software
writers to enter the market," says
James Leavey of Firebird. "We are
fairly demanding and look for well
programmed, machine code games,"
Leavey believes that programmers
of the Silver range may one day come

Finnigan continues, "If someone
from the outside sent in a good game,
we would invite him to come in and
produce the game with the team or in
some cases give him a job."

"We have all sorts of development
equipment," explains Finnigan. "The
games are written on an Einstein or
Sage and then downloaded to the

ture writing with The Quill, feels that
documentation is essential when send-
ing in a utility program. "Those utili-
ties which rely on a handbook should
have a draft of that sent in as well. The
handbook should be easily under-
stood, free from mistakes and pre-
sented in an interesting way. The
handbook is as important as the
utility."

When your game has been accepted
it is normal procedure to sign a
contract with the publishing house
concerned. It is always a good idea to
have a contract checked by a solicitor
but there are a few points you could
look out for yourself.

The company will usually buy the
licence to market your game, although
you will retain the copyright. Check
the length of time they will hold that
licence — it can vary from one year to
an indefinite period.

If possible, ensure that the company
you are dealing with is rock solid and
not about to go into liquidation. If the
company goes bankrupt make sure
that the licence reverts to you and not
CO the liquidator. Then you will be
able to resell the game.

Have you sold the licence to your
game for European or world rights:*
An important point — a company

up with a game worthy to be sold in Spectrum and Commodore 64, where ^ ^ ^

the more expensive Gold range, the music and other extras are added.
"They've got to start somewhere — Software houses tend to receive

they are the programmers of the fu-
ture." And just because a game is sold
on a budget label, it does not mean
that it will not be successful.

huge numbers of games for evaluation
each month. Many fall by the wayside
immediately, either because they lack
originality, or because they are un-
^^^^^^^^^^^h^^^^^^^^h playable. Companies are not in-
terested in fruit machine games or yet
WritinQ a POOd qame another PacMan, however good,

~ P - ■ Mastertronic processes around 200

IS JUSt 3 Deginning. game s a month and in May this year
ninro. PHnoloY/ tpllfQ 220 games were looked at. Two games

Clare tageiey iaiKs weri f picked om _ one which was

tO programmers and almost marketable and one requiring

publishers, charting lwecn four Mt i slx gariies a
the software scene

yet you will not know whether the
game is being sold in the States.

Contracts also state how you are
being paid, whether by royalties and
an advance, or just a flat payment.
Christian Penfold from Automata

continued tm page S4

Booty has sold over 100,000 units
for Firebird and Chiller, Mastertro-
nic' s most successful game has sold
over 100,000 copies on the Commod-
ore 64 and 30,000 on the Spectrum.

John and Jan Peel of Legend, which
produced Valhalla, always come up
with their own games ideas and em-
ploy a team of in-house programmers.

"Games which people have sent in
are not even good enough to return
asking for improvements," says Jan
Peel. "I can say that the best stuff

month,
and has 40 or 50 people working on
games which are at various stages of
completion,

John Maxwell from Mastertronic
explains why many games cannot be
looked at properly. "We can only
spend ten minutes on each and many
come in without instructions or any
form of documentation and so cannot
be evaluated properly," That is espe-
cially important if you are submitting
an adventure game. Without a map it
would be impossible to evaluate with-
in the 10 minutes available.

Howard Gilberts from Gilsoft, the
company which has changed adven-

Dividing the spoils

THIS is how the costing of a
typical game priced at £6.95
breaks down. The figures given
are speculative and would app-
ly to a small company with few
overheads.

The game is sold to the distri-
butor for £3.82 leaving the soft-
ware house £313 to cover all
costs. Fifty per cent covers the
cost of the blank cassette, du-
plicating and the insert, while
the artwork and advertising
costs £1,00- Bulk delivery to
distributors and the like costs
about five pence per game.

Royalties for the author are
40 pence and administration,
including telephone and all
other overheads costs 30 pence
— leaving the software house a
profit of 88 pence.

SINCLAIR USER Avgun &8S

53

Programs for Profit

amiimted from page 53

offers some advice. "Make sure a
figure is stated rather than a percen-
tage of the profit. Some software
houses are entitled to deduct packag-
ing, advertising, duplication and other
costs from the price before royalties
are worked out — the percentage is
therefore lower than it looks."

Royalties are usually based not on
the retail price of the software, but on
the sum left after selling the game to a
distributor. Distributors will take, on
average, a 55 per cent discount.

Royalty payments are usually calcu-
lated against the number of units the
company expects to sell. If you think
your game will sell less than the
company has predicted go for a lump
sum payment. However, if you feet it
will be a success go for royalties, and
an advance if possible-
Advances can range from £100 to
£2000 and upwards depending on the
quality of the game. Royalties can
range from 4 per cent to 20 per cent. If
you receive a large advance, the
chances are that the royalties pay

ments will be lower and vice versa.

Considering the software market
has been chaotic over the last year,
there is still a surprisingly large num-
ber of companies willing to accept
games as long as they come up to
standard. There is no point sending in
a game only good enough for a maga-
zine listing. The software house will
not even look at ii. If you can come up
with the goods - they'll take ii.

STEPHEN CURTIS from Wales
is 22 years old, and became
interested in computing at col-
lege.

"The first game I sold was
Hammer House of Horror in
1983 to Lasersound. I signed
the contract but the company
went bust, although I did get
the advance/'

Stephen has written about 13
games of which 10 have been
published. They include Morris
Meets the Bikers for Automata,
Tiler for Interceptor and his
latest game, Nonterraqueous
for Mastertonic, written with
Mark Jacobs,

"Approach four or five com-
panies with your game — most
won't reply unless they want it.
I sent Nonterraqueous to four
before Mastertronic.

"In February one company
offered me 50 pence for Nonter-
raqueous and they had a game
in the top ten. The royalty rate
was only about 4 per cent."

Stephen's advice to anyone
thinking of going freelance is
"Don't bother. Mainly because
computer programs are becom-
ing more and more sophisti-
cated and development times
are becoming longer and longer
for less money"

JOHN PRAGNELL from London
is 28 years old and works as an
advertising manager for IBM
Systems User.

"I got hold of an assembler
and set myself a target — I
visualised it but didn't make
any detailed plans." The result
— Overlords — was completed
In February 1985 after nine
months' programming.

John sent the game to a
number of companies including
CCS, Acti vision and Hewson
Consultants. At least two com-
panies suggested that he try
Loth lorien . Lot h I o rie n su g -
gested enhancements which
took a further two months and
paid £500 advances on 15 per
cent royalties. John expects to
receive around 30 pence for
each unit sold.

John has already started on
another game which he expects
will take six months to write.

"I would consider going free-
lance as programming is satis-
factory and addictive. It's a risk.
You have to work for seven or
eight months with no income,
you get paid and start all over
again. The biggest problem I
had was time — if you've got a
lot of time to spare you're OK.
I'd like to work like that more."

MIKE SINGLETON from Mersey
is 34 years old and taught Eng-
lish in a secondary school.
Three years ago he went free-
lance as a programmer.

He became interested in com-
puting in 1980. After six months
he decided to learn 6502 mach-
ine code. He wrote his first
game, Space Ace, in machine
code, which he sold to the now
deceased software house Pet-
soft. It sold around 100 copies.
'The royalties in those days
were pathetic, you couldn't last
a week on them"

He then wrote a number of
games for different companies
— one of his most successful
being Snake Pit for Postern,
written for the Pet and later
converted to the Spectrum.

His big break came in 1983
when he was approached by
Beyond Software to write a game
for them. Nine months later
Lords of Midnight was launch-
ed. Doomdark's Revenge fol-
lowed and Mike is at present
working on another game for
Beyond.

After Space Ace, publishers
have always approached him.
His advice, "If you've got faith
in your own abilities, go for
royalties rather than a salary.'

54

SINCLAIR USER August 19$5

SO FAR TN this series we have
dealt with computer operations,
such as input and output^ as iso-
lated actions.

Even in the simplest program ,
however, that is not the case. It is a
feature inherent in Basic that one part
of a program will have some effect on,
or contact with, another part.

You may think that is untrue because
you can write programs which are
made up of a series of subroutines)
eliminating the use of GOTOs. Even
then, however, you need to call those
subroutines from somewhere within
ihe program. Each routine is also like-
ly to share variables with other parts of
the program.

Adherents to the structure school of
thought are often fanatics who will
condemn a program if they spot a
GOTO- Although I have sympathy
with them I admit that GOTO has its
uses.

For that reason , and also partly to
get up the noses of structure fanatics,
the Entry Program this month in-
cludes many GOTOs. In the form
shown in listing one it is easy to read
and would have been longer if split
into subroutines with a control routine
at the top of the program, and the
co-ordinate update would be unneces-
sarily complex.

The program also combines several
topics featured in past articles. The

John Gilbert shows
how to program
a simple keypad

Finding

the key to

control

program creates a keyboard control
device, called a keypad, which oper-
ates in a similar way to a joystick. It is
used to move a character around the
screen and then explode it. To do that
we will be using the CODE function;,
introducing a derivative of the INPUT
command and skimming the surface
of random number generation.

Firstly, however, we must design
the keypad. As it will probably need
two hands to manipulate, the keypad
should be in the centre of the
keyboard and use the key configura-
tion shown in figure one.

I have chosen *P as ihe fire key, at
the centre of the keypad, so that the
control device is easy to find.

If you read the previous article on
codes, each key has a number allo-
cated to it. The computer recognises a

4tra^^.^

key by its code so it makes sense to
bypass any conversion of character to
code and give the computer a numeric
value for each key.

If you have the Sinclair Spectrum
Basic Programming Manual turn to the
list of character codes in appendix A.
If , however, you are unfortunate
enough to have the Spectrum Plus User

continued on page 56

100

200

300

310

400

500

600

700

800

900
1100
1200
1300
3000
1400 IF
O 4000
1500 IF
5000
1600 IF
O 6000
1700 IF
O 700
1900 GO
3000
3100
3200
4000
4100
4200

CLS

LET x=10: LET y=10

IF x>21 THEN LET x=21

PRINT AT x,y;"X"

PAUSE 0: LET a#=INKEY*

PRINT AT n,yi" "

00 TO 1300

FOR k = l TD 30

LET a=INT tRND*7)+l

BORDER a

NEXT k

STOP

IF a*=CHR*

(114) THEN GO T

a*=CHR* C103J THEN GO T
a*=CHRt U18> THEN GO T
a#=CHR* (100) THEN GO T

aS=CHR* (102) THEN GO T

TD 300
REM north
LET X=x-1
GD TO 300
REM east
LET y=y+l
GO TO 300

5000 REM south *

5100 LET x^k+1

5200 GO TO 300

6000 REM west

6100 LET y=y-l

6200 GO TO 300

Line 100 and 20ft clear the screen and set up the X,Y co-ordinates at

which the X will be printed.

Line MO checks to make sure that the X does not run ol'f the bottom of

the screen. If the variable X should contain a number which is more

than 21, usually the last line on which you can print, ii is changed to

equal 2 1 .

Lines 310 to 500 produce movement and ask for the direction in which

you want the X to move. Line 400 Us« a new type of input. INKEYS

will look at the keyboard for an instant. If a key is being depressed it

will rcpon ii io the computer. Unfortunately INKEYS does not wait for

an input. To remedy that I have put PAUSE before it which will

pause until a key is depressed. Using INKEY$ the key will be put into

a$. Line 600 transfers control to the routine at 1)00 which finds the

key which has been depressed.

Lines 700 to 1200 is the Fire routine. Line 800 produces a random

number between one and seven which is used as a border colour at line

900. The program then STOPs at line 1200.

Lines BOO to 1SO0 look at the character codes allowed by the keypad

and if one matches with the input key, control is passed to one of the

routines between 1800 and 6200 which update the X,Y co-ordinates.

Line 1800 returns for more input regardless of whether or not a valid

key has been pressed.

Lines 3000 to 6200 are made up of four three-line routines. Those

update the X,Y values and return to line 300 where the X chamcalcr is

reprinted in its old position, the old X character being rubbed out by

line 500.

SINCLAIR USER AuguxWSS

ss

Entry Point

continued from pagt 5S

Guide then you will need the character

set table on page 51.

We will use the lower case repre-
sentations of V, y, V, *d' and T.
That makes it easier to program as you
will not need to add the codes for CAP
SHIFT — capitals — or SYMBOL
SHIFT. The bst of codes is shown at
the bottom of figure one. If you do not
use the correct codes and accidentally
go into CAPS mode you will find that
the keypad does not work.

The codes are installed between
lines 1300 and 1700 in listing one. The
line which the program control goes to
will depend upon the key which you
are pressing. If you press a key which
is not acknowledged by the program
the 'X f figure which has been put on
the screen will not move.

The fire button is treated in a diffe-
rent manner from the direction keys.
Its control is one of the reasons for not
splitting the program into a series of
subroutines.

The heart of the movement routine,
between lines 300 and 500, has two
exit points. The usual exit is at line
300 L Where the fire key is recognised a
transfer of control is then made to line
700 which contains the animation
sequence when the bomb goes off.

The animation routine, which starts
at line 700, is novel as it randomises
the effect. It uses the function RND
which, on its own, generates a random
number between zero and one. For
instance, typing LET A = RND might
put .12345678 into A. That is not
much good to us for generating some-
thing like a colour or BEEP sound
which requires a digit not less than
zero and not greater than nine.

To generate a whole, integer, num-
ber between one and range top the

formula would be LET A -INT

(RND* range top)+l. For instance

LET A=INT (RND*5)+1 would
give a number within the range 1 to 5.
The INT in the formula means INTe-
ger. It chops off the decimal part of a
cumber and rounds the result down.

The one to range top formula is

used to randomise colours for the ex-
plosion in the program. That is not all
the RND function can do. In next
month's article, we will be using it to
design a pseudo-random maze.

Back to listing one. If you have run
the program and tried to move the *X'
off the bottom of the screen you will
have found that an error occurs and
the program stops. You have exceeded
the bounds of the display and, unlike

the QL, the Spectrum will not keep
track of a line or object when it falls
off the display edge.

The error will only occur, however,
when you move the 'X' to the bottom
of the screen. Try moving it to one of
the other three sides of the screen.
You will find that the 'X T gets to the
edge of the screen and bounces off it to
start back towards the centre again.
The effect is yet another Spectrum
screen enigma.

Luckily we can use the effect to
advantage in the example, as we only
have to error trap the bottom of the
screen so that the 'out of screen' error
does not occur. The only way to do
that is to have a line in the program,
such as 300, which checks on the Y
axis of the screen display and, if it is
equal to, or more than, the screen
boundary, halts all errors.

One limitation of listing one is that
the 'X' will wipe out anything which is
in its path. You cannot have a user
defined background such as a maze or
a picture. You can, of course put up
different background colours, using
the PAPER function, but you could

000

KEY ACTION

CODE

r up
B right
v dawn
d left
f fire

114
103
US
100
102

Figure 1 Keypad and codes

not have a permanent backdrop.

The Spectrum comes to the rescue
again, however, with a Basse function
called OVER. Its argument, the num-
ber which follows it, can either be a
zero or one and it operates in a similar
way to the INVERSE and FLASH
functions. Typing OVER 1 will switch
the effect on and typing OVER will
switch it off again.

Usually all objects are printed on
the background of the screen but it is
possible to add another layer. The best
way to describe the operation is to use
the analogy of an animated cartoon.
Backgrounds are produced on card
and the characters are painted onto
transparent plastic sheets which are
then laid over the background. When
OVER is switched on the moveable
character can be printed on iop of the
background without destroying it.

10 CLS

20 FOR k=l TO 10

30 PRINT "XXXXXXXXXX"

40 NEXT k

50 OVER It PRINT AT 1,1;

"S-

60 PAUSE B

70 PRINT AT 1,1; "5"

80 PAUSE a

<?0 GO TO 10

Listing 2

Listing two shows the effect. First a
small block of Xs are drawn as a back-
ground using a FOR . . . NEXT loop.
The OVER function is switched on at
line 50, (OVER 1), and on the same
line 'S* is printed over the *X' at co-
ordinates 1,1. The PAUSE at line 60
will hold the program until you press
any key when it will continue.

Line 70 produces an unusual result.
You may think, from looking ai it,
that another *S' will be printed at loca-
tion 1,1 but the reverse is true. It will
wipe out the original 'S' leaving the
'X' in position.

The disappearance of the character
is due to the way in which the charac-
ters are represented in memory when
the OVER option is on.

Two states are possible on the
screen and ihese are represented as
INK, or one, and no INK, or zero.
Those two states flip over. For inst-
ance, if you have a one, or INK state,
the next time you apply an operation
to that Location it will become a non-
INK, or white, area — the one flips
over to become a zero.

The odd effect means that you do
not have to use a PRINT statement
and a space between quotes to make a
character vanish. You can just switch
OVER on and re- use the PRINT
statement which causes the character
to be displayed.

You can now change the program to
cope with any backgrounds you may
wish to put behind the moving 'X\
You could design a screen using one of
many screen designer packages on the
market and then LOAD your effort
using the SCREEN! function before
you run the program. You could also
change the 'X* into your own UDG
and animate it in the manner ex-
plained in the last article. Just remem-
ber to add OVER 1 at the top of the
program before you use it.

Next month, as promised, I will be
delving into the random number
generator. I will also be showing how
to generate massive random mazes.

I will also look at sensible ways in
which to structure a program and
when you can eliminate GOTOs to en-
hance the RL'Nning of a program.

»

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

software

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* Unkqur new *Jy nl vhinx Inrdl by Iknc g>VM you
total control with Ihrec difierenl oplkms : Ml the

comportr 1o match your rr>pon 1 ^ tjfnw, ^ivr il a hrnr
Innii to pi | H in jv<"jw i. iiv BO it i.ike its

moves. And you cm Inrrr il In play in hctl mow
hmnit m ikt

* Change udes and levels dunng pUy if requ.rpd

* Stop tor sarnr *ral < h,m|c«. poMfuM M .my lime

* Si* up pjnn uij* games you wart to try a any stage
+ Will recommend your best move whrn .MrH

* ( .in be M in -il> i' pmbfcffn) up in mate in inn

* Extensive library ojI opening moves

* Of* ion In rirtrrmini- x n i

canon

* Vou can play Wi"*rf(olH rhess

* Abwil-.iir'k , i.iln'ftir begimii'i, .u-.i w rlw minimum
move lime

* Fascinating wHf-pJ,«y. mufje lor vnu Kmutly the sljiw

* TOTAL INFORMATION about the computer's thought
processes, irxfudingc best iirw tjf play lounrf mi Ijr.
nuiTibm of positions evaluated, depth nr search, Internal
scoring system, drsplay of previous movrs if nrouirpd.
help menu if yuu snowld ™ g« fnJC*

1

}NGES1

4«

5#

a

J 1 ■ *
1 ■

J

e

HI ^^

m

^■SfCggPM ,

i f\ n/f GAfVfl i If i HfSS

BRIDCE TUTORS with lull m.inn.il g m
runrh Ir* n»ach you the gam?
Beginners I5.9S Advanced £5 Si
SPECIAL OFFER
Bridge Ptayrr 1 & both lulors tl9.«

£9.95 48K SPECTRUM

WITH EXTENSIVE MANUAL

* I"

iv j ' rjli-.|i<. gameol ' bndRe JKdl'H (he-

ft Computer car play as dpfemln or declarer
At last, hierip is ,1 program Wliri i-vrfylhinx |Th> mjIo
Bridge Player evet rtasded. Thi- (rimpuKf
RCTKraEtS tdiidom h.nd». allinvs's proper hirk'
iht ACOL sysivjm inrluding the Skyman arid
Blac kwrxid convpntionj, ,ind lh«fl IT TAKES fOU
ON. pkayinjj both your iJf3jM>fK»nt>.' haritJv 1 1

fpflhjre thai cjo be rutkmr imo ihc Spedrum h.^
been irKluded rn rhm pn^rarn m gK* von .1 neallv
satisfying artd enjoyable t^me of computer
Bridge,

FEATURES

* Versatile tawldmg rtmmwv ^vrywu a wodhy opponent

|m,.| nnirrii.il l,h i!.". .ili.w ''-iHrtdinfi
and rpp|j\inn u) jny hand

* Vou can review the btddinflur ijIjv iih rm-vMHn n
while piaymft a fund

*fjr inpulahandof {orm ■ i.tteH

* COMPREHENSIVE ON-SCW EN Ifvif ORMATKJN
OlSPtAyS; contract, tncki won mi I.ii <anK ptayed In
•. uftt.ru ikini I jv tri< k -->

* -■ ".i HAS THE EHAL ',..•',.■ ,i*. j«t yoof
furfnt-r" mrm- hijih rjrrj prnnN ,1 >tnJ pn<ef to p, ■

declarer

A REAILV STXONC OPPONENT
FO« A REALir (.OCHJ f^MI Of BRIDGE

<Vfiv

cp : it i

^:^»««^ ,n '"

*

ASTRONOMER

• ♦

J

a 1

J

THKIttlM. • nnnrjnd uvv i

- rmvpiif pjate on earth
SFRIOL'S UdI lr>r "nV jrrvUwr asfntjnomrr
ulual

•fnxilcf prow

■ r-nt/Vv

CRASH Oct I SB4

£9,95 48K SPECTRUM

Aslrartomer hm everythms in ore powfrtnl
pruH! am , See ihe ntghl sky ol more than 1 000

strfrs Irum jnv timi 1 (H pEjcfon edrth. v\\il< I'; il
pint thf pi.irwh ur dr.tw m thp t onsM'lUfn ins Inr

SrW cJose-ups horn the St,tr Atlas of 362
ihiirf.. vV.itchdriim.rted det.iil erf otif Sd.it "■■.
m motton jnti ice how H changes whti ihf

rnonlhs. t jkulalPFVPrythinnnt'ctJCTj lor wmiju*.
.istrornimy lo a hi«h st.ind.trd n( accuracy .incl
produce your owii obka 1 1 save having n i tuiv-
irem. Anylhirtg can be lransn?ned lo a ZX F'

PEATURfK

* '— frrrtimMVi' hdinu

* i^i-- .MMiiiK jl sftjdy

* •■ Ski views from anywhere on earth

* ' SIMS

* Disp ■ 10 ;lan

* t)r,iwv thr [Dnvkillainns on ymur cofimanil

* Pltiu rhe wjldr ^v««rn an the night sky

* Oupc Star Alia 1 - tor derailed study

* mcitlon of tSt *oux fyttern

■*■ Calculates pavl'iin ha ' ■ a, Planets. Comets

■ ^^If^rwdv

* Then plots them on the Night Sky or Star Chart

'■*-, ■ ,1 1h<.. mnon

* The dtstanc? iiurti earth at any .

+ ■SkxtcjI l<mc d«J nting and setting limes
« '"inr-rii in Piruv p n er a w antl [mnt >iili
+ fu!ly<ompalibte iv-lh ZX Pointer

"oRCOMMS^

6*<

NEW FOR OTHER
COMPUTERS

■ ■id sound
mie the feel • pirvuble.

fxinusMDirs ,snd Cre*

i rn,<,j(nt that a

"A fur jMfjra idisi ifwr i *hing jntt so

fTrrrvement fa n

PI f.:.( INAl tXJMPtnili GArVffiS

ANY SPECTRUM— £5.95
COMMODORE B4— £6.95

AMSTRAD — Bridge Player £9.9.1
Pinball £8.9.1
Draughts £8.9.1
Backgammon £8.91
COMMODORE — Bridge Player £9.9.1
SINCLAIR Ql. — Bridge Player £18.91

/N/FIV

|!50R<
■*Q% KtlCRODRIVl
COMfATIBU

,i*i ISO IB ■•■ 500^ MlCfiODKfVE COMRATIBI LrTY this has so hf rbr uRrmaM S[km mim

Ait It gives you the powrr to do rveryfhintt v Y, n .iIw.iva il^.-.i^ieil hi vnljhyoui Sjum'iuiii hi vt'ui own
r ivVC pmgrjfirs. Uorn «( Ihe earl«H Supercodes (which ihemselVes mcemed 5 blar rrvH-w>,i wi- can
■ ;.|idencelnal mte have packed absolurcly rvrrvthins mm rj •<■ An drvrtiifinit.iii Wnfi

'Wftiiij ■ " i Iransiws Msily H -n rt.xiriw .nni is fKOjpiispd hy Sine Inr ds ful ly compatible i'lieech no
"lawTedge to opeiate and comes with a compmfwniivr manual

FEATURES

I L'nique Access Program lets you INDEX' IIST TESTTAH OR RUN RFIOCATT SAVF ftp Mpe ...
fBtcrodme with new or drfou* namrJ .VTBIFT juTnmjfii jlh

* Dplinn* in. luO> tXAMPLt REPE.AT JUMP AGAINCONT Ifr OEMO
OlAGNOSIS.lHOVf

* lOfS menu Hrfim wflh rm.umri ItJinlni * BftlHaftt user manual
< gtmtirvrt gkurjnleed SHORTEST AND FASTEST ha all applkatkom

K» IIMPHMTLUDf

Vl*W s*CRiir*lvFi'»T*i. X.nt TK.WI am JSk pthM pmniin ifxrdu SCKEfN COMfSESSfOli ^DVIraTLIHfS

KiTI mULJlU- OUttni f» KJ JJ *n[1 MtCHtSbefSt eCkjhHH IIM HI!***. C43Tn-TH{ 5tj«rHIINLJSiaE«

Aks rmyttiiiiiL'i v'Si^it . m s-ii|isi: iSMKH STOSC Itir'lALl rv*tf rill 1 SuKtIB P*i. >CKV*wuiIl4

-IPWI SOtl!SiPSMIjSC-CC»JFlJH.llhlCC*IFL.^( |SIWt, KFMkll- FKix;itA«

aXT^IiC-Cll^^i;' fflOCH^W. *M*USF MIH»I-VM SCTWnt«-r:HMr4rnn9rVLlHSCItAHll.ErlNV'[i|l'

milUIJBJI •■"■■' CMAIIACTB ,|1 [Sa*t FLASH* PUGH1 CMhOfnmOr visv.Hi'. ms

nUUW> IIVCIH tlHl .IM - Mf*OBV f RASSffll WCCIFV • ^PPFMO [ LUIStK ■ MKEtS WyE. , lt)^[lfVVVlK , >

\ t^K*/mu^jt^H tmx - -■■; .cmtill daw*l cwci iNk.PAPrB chakc*

..'■■ L^vtRT.BEWT I*Pf H[q[l Bf APFB ■ PRCX^IUlfcl PWtJTHl -PHt K.K.SM HKEA* IN
iCMWdFSS «l( CnEATIAUTrMlrN EitjOt ■ P«rjC«A« *■ MUM T**t COflH Clfft*T VKTSnOtUHt

, dimxchiS f^si JK.D mii:r<h>siv[ sime sa« MJCunrsivf <nvi ?o MrimoiMivEHJirE e:lc»e.'..

SC.S rPHOCIt*.** CASE CHANCLtWl>P'MiK LOaOE* - *S 'ilTSI mEmORV HhiE ArJ^■ltF^^

• U Lit* HUNTING lOWH 5CFWFH m ntw nrx: pwx:bammafil r BO«CKH
tlufrvt CfltClllK-IIIPRF.imrTTEIlSflM3LLVI.nl StltaJLL rlll(lSftH^ftM:rHy*nK .1

« <.HI WITH OR Wl FHCK.lT WRAPARlXiMd. I" A USfH CIFFINFn W1MK1W
(.* ANY Sl2t IH'N' « Hitn tNCAHFRFOMKI SCEL((M-SP1HTE IFF EC'TV IMl nuflv IIHnbHHIH

Watch this space lor Brand new Programs coming this Autumn

WANTED: SUnn^-iral original pqgr.tiTTS ot *n Irnriftgci II laturcfaf any ollht 1 above
comrxrters, Tcip myalties paid by this reliable lompdnt

OTHER E-ROCRAMS tiw «k Spectrum

Toolkit Urffily - (AUAT£9,95>

SUPERCODE II

FLOATING POINT FO«TH (wrthwliroh

INTEGER FORTH

EXTENDED 8AStC

ssaii I ncjo iTurtle graphics)

SPECIAL OFFfR any two uf Ihcse Invaludblv
prottramminK dids 1(K £.1 7.95.
Arty ihr(i' for £23.95 Ok £1 OFF any if you
ySUPFKt OfJFIIlati 12.95.

JUPITER ACESUPERCHESS

£S.9S

Ousk Garnet

Othdkiipuvvprhjll ££.95

Airtjdst.' In . .-k?) ES.9S,
( iolt ins W'rvr Id (h«t« th,irv 1'n- .: mi's

> , CKJ see heauiiy adverti ^pd i £5.95

Draughts I very strong program] £5.95

Bat k.gdiriman lextdlwitj £5.95

Vavif £4.95 BridpPby*: £».9S

Syperrhp-,-. £9.9S

SPECIAL OFFER Any two ebsste games

£1.50 OFFOR£l OFF ii vim buy wilhiini'tn

out m.'M fedluwd prog/iims at £S Vi
( Astrcjoorrspt, Hi-icIrp J or Suppicbp-.

£12.95 4BK SPECTRUM with extensive manual

MAILORDER

Simply stale which prci$>r,irTis *nd send cheque, postal order or Access number (with e ,
date). Telephorie for itrstanl credil-c ard orders. Send SAE lor LataloflLrf and niurn [xiMd#> tnr
siubmitted progfani^

CP SOFTWARE, Dept (SU8), 10 Alexandra Road,
Harrogate, North Yorks HC1 5JS

Tel; (0423) 17089

DELIVERY I Ji m n uvt-sl txist Ptfil Iree irt UK. Europe add » lp ijct pruKram. Ali other litis dtii 1 1
|JH i iri.ii!t.biTl tot sunjee Hun! ■ ■ add LJ inr InrJ pmu/iirn .ind IT Inri'.irn .srldrBonrfj,

Since the dawn of the
computer age the prices of
home computers have been
steadily falling.

But remarkably, the price
of a genuine, full-blooded disk
drive has remained almost
constant.

Constantly expensive.

Youll be lucky to pick up a
decent one for less than £200
in the shops.

Now, however, you can
have one delivered to your
doorstep for only £119.95 (in-
cluding VAT and postage and
packing).

The new Triton Quick Disk
from Radofin.

Its specifications are every bit the equal
of a £200 disk drive, as a glance at our card
above will confirm.

Quick Disk uses the very latest tech-
nology to store up to 100K on high quality
Hitachi Maxell double-sided 2.8" disks.

Its disk operating system (DOS) uses
standard commands so it is truly easy to use,
as any computer novice will be glad to hear.

While the price will be
compatible with most wallets,
there is aTriton Quick Disk com-
patible with most computers
-Commodore 64, Spectrum
(16K, 4SK and Spectrum plus),
Aquarius, Dragon 64 and all
MSX Systems.

And h naturally included is
an interface box plus all con-
necting cables and instruction s.

In short what we deliver
is a complete, genuine disk
drive, Not a tape or wafer in
sight All for only £119.95.

And when it comes to
speed of loading, the Triton
Quick Disk more than lives up
to its name.

SPECTRIN
APPRECIATE THE!

FROM TO READY IN 7 SECONDS.

To put the Triton Quick Drive through
paces we used an ordinary computer gam*
-Jet Set Willy.

From tape it took 170 seconds to loac

When loaded from theTriton Quick Dis^
it took a mere seven seconds. That is 16;
seconds less than the tape and certainly as
quick as most disk drives on the market.

^HJMMM^H

AS A WALLE1
APPRECIATE

JM USER YOU'LL
i SPECIFICATIONS

TRIT

QUICK

ts

le

d.
sk
53
is

Proof indeed that the Triton has all the
capabilities of its more expensive rivals.

AS TEST DRIVEN BY THE EXPERTS.

New it may be, but the Triton Quick Disk
is already receiving rave reviews in the com-
I puter press. Por example, in a recent Home
Computing Weekly article it picked up their
[much coveted "Flipped" award.

As their journalist said *.... I am very

impressed by the Quick Disk
Not only is it very quick, and
both smaller and neater than
other drives, but it's easier to
use as well... the Quick Drive
performed faultlessly

Its easy to use and at
around £120 is probably the
best buy for the first time user-
High praise indeed for any
disk drive.

For one costing £80 less
than any comparable piece of
equipment it's exceptional.

HOW TO BUY YOUR TRITON

QUICK DISK.

As yet you won't find the

Triton Disk Drive in any shop.

You can only lay your hands

on one by filling in the coupon below.

Send it along with a cheque or P/O for
£119.95 to, Radofin Electronics (UK) Ltd.,
Hyde House, The Hyde, London NW9 6LG.
(Postage free in the UK Add additional post-
age for outside the UK)

In the unlikely event of you being in
any way dissatisfied, simply return the disk
drive and we'll happily return your money

ttaUTraiwwl Rata
TOOK Bit ,'S*t.

Fite Load Hate:

Diskettes. \

Miemflft KJO* Bites \
Fwmaned 20 Sectors,' ',

iTUSER YOU'LL
fETHE PRICE.

TRITOH

QUICK DISK.

r

n

Please send me a Triton Quick Disk
for £119.95

My computer is a

2 8" Diskettes at

TMT*n

QUICK DISK

Please include

£2.99 each.

I enclose a cheque^postal order for

Total

Make cheques payable to:-
Radofin Electronics (UK) Ltd..
and post to us at Hyde House, The Hyde,
London NW96LG. Tel. 01-205 0044

Name.

Address.

Tel: No..

L_

Please el\ovv 26 days fqf delivery.

SU

IT'S GIVEN UP the ghost. You're
tearing your hair out, practically
climbing up the walls trying to get
the damn thing to function but
NOTHING WORKS.

What can you do? Chuck it out of
the window? Thump it? Kick it?
You're more likely to curse aloud and
start poking its insides around — but
don't. Although it's tempting to go for
it with the soldering iron, you'll prob-
ably do more harm than good. People
messing about with their micro's in-
nards are half the reason third party
maintenance companies are in busi-
ness at all.

But once your micro is in the hands
of those people, what will they do to
it? Will you get your money's worth?
And how long will you have to wait?

Advice from the maintenance com-

Nothing is more
useless than a

blown Spectrum.

Wendie Pearson

finds gold at

the end of the

soldering iron

panics is Loud and clear — leave the
messing around to the experts, or
you'll be sorry. Not only do they have
machines admitted to their sick rooms
ah choked up and covered in biscuit
crumbs, coke and lemonade, but there
is also evidence that many users fancy
themselves as amateur surgeons and
completely wreck their machines.

Verran Computer-fix in Camberley
runs an insurance scheme in conjunc-
tion with the Domestic and General
Insurance Company in Wimbledon.

Verran has a First Aid Plan cover-
ing all home computers with pre-
miums based on the machine's value.
Micros worth up to £150 cost £16.60
for a 12 month guarantee covering
fire, theft and damage. Machines
worth between £150 and £299.99 cost
£22.60 for the same cover and the QL,
at under £600, would be £30.60. On
the peripherals side, a printer worth
£300 would be covered for £29,60.

The company is run by commercial
manager, Laurence FritweU who says,
"Computer-fix is the biggest computer
services company in the world, with
branches in France, Spain and Ger-
many. It's an advantage to work with
an insurance company as it gives a

Company more credibility."

FritweU says their Superfast repair
service wUl tum machines around
within seven days, subject to availabil-
ity of spares.

"Our prices include postage and
transit insurance. It's a fast and direct
repair and we have a comprehensive
range of computerised test equipment
to see what's wrong with a machine
when it arrives."

Like every other maintenance com-
pany we talked to, FritweU says the
main preventable problem is plugging
an interface into the Spectrum while it
is still on. That does ghastly things to
the FCB. "It's rare that we have an

irreparable machine, hut people do
horrific things to them," he says.
"One person put 240 vohs down the
ear and microphone socket and that
sort of thing blows every chip on the
board/'

Eric Allen, marketing manager of
Domestic and General says, "We
don't take on people from outside the
UK. It is very complicated, as you
have to conform to the individual
country's regulations. If a foreign user
approached us, we would refer them
to repair agents here."

D & G operate various schemes
through a number of companies in-
cluding RCS Computer Services in

60

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

Maintenance -

Felrham, who deal with Acorn
machines, and John Menzjes. They
also run a general scheme called Com-
puter Care. Thar is available through
various retailers although, oddly, Dix-
ons, Boots and Currys will not do it,
"They haven't seen that there is a
market need for it," says Allen. Slap-
ped wrists for all three!

Computer Care is taken out within
30 days of purchasing your micro and
costs £12.60 a year for a micro worth
under £150, giving you a one year
extension to your guarantee. If you
want to extend it for four years, it
costs £25.60.

D & G are covered by the Depart-
ment of Trade & Industry so that
policy holders are protected by the
1976 Policyholders Protection Act.
That safeguards the end user in the

ture on the part of Mancomp. The
company has a multilingual member
of staff who speaks German, French
and Italian and helps specifically with
overseas enquiries, which account for
a fair proportion of its business.

There is no set price for repairs.
"We try to be flexible, depending on
the problem. The minimum price is
£9,00 and the maximum £23," says
Bhait. "We will repair things while
people wait — all they have to do is
phone and we'll advise them on their
problem. If it turns out that they
should come in, and are near enough
to do so, we make an appointment and
give them a quote as to the repair
price. It's up to them whether they
wish to proceed.

"There's no shortage of repair com-
panies, but our reputation helps us

Down but
not out

event of a third party maintenance
company going into liquidation. If
that happens, you then have redress to
the British Insurance Association
which deals with claims of that sort.

It seems , however, that few people
insure their micro when they first buy
it. "Most people don't take out a
policy until the thing breaks down,"
says Fritwell. "At the same time, it's
like any other insurance policy and the
reason more people don't insure their
micros is that they're often unaware
that there is a breakdown policy of this
kind available."

One company there to help when
your Spectrum gets sick is Mancomp
Ltd, based in Manchester and run by
Mike Bhatt. Of all the repair compa-
nies Sinclair User spoke to, this one
seemed the most professional when it
came to advice and a helpful attitude.

Bhatt is insistent that anyone with a
problem should phone him at his
premises, tucked away between Man-
chester City Centre and Stockport. He
is happy to give all the advice he can
over (he phone.

Mancomp runs bilingual ads with
hall in German. That caters for over-
seas readers and is a considerate ges-

rather than anything else," he says.
"We will bust a gut trying to repair a
machine and will never reject one
unless the damage is phenomenal."

Bhatt's basic advice goes as follows,
"Don't keep anything metallic or li-
quid on the same surface as the micro,
particularly near the Spectrum's rear
end, as it could go inside and short-
circuit it. Also, keep all the leads tidy
as kids playing nearby can easily pull it
off the table and wreck it."

Bhatt says repairing it yourself can
often result in small hairline cracks in
the Spectrum bodywork, and little
bubbles of solder can be left behind
which fall into the Spectrum's innards
making it short-circuit. That will re*
suit in lots of problems ; so that you
won't know what is wrong.

The only micro Mancomp has
been unable to take so far is the QL,
due to the shortage of spares, although
Bhatt has not been short of queries on
this machine. At the time of writing,
Preston -based distributor CPC was
expecting its first big delivery of QL
spares which it will distribute to in-
terested third party maintenance
companies — just in time for all those
QLs coming out of warranty towards

the end. of the year.

Those based near Coventry may
care to try Quantum, at the City
Arcade Shop who do all Sinclair re-
pairs including Interface 1, micro-
drive, ZX-81, 16K RAM pack, Spec-
trum ZX Printer, Spectrum and QL
— once parts are received. Repairs are
done on the premises and a Spectrum
repair will set you back about £20
including VAT and parts while a
ZX-81 repair is £2.50 cheaper.

"If more than £10 worth of spares
are necessary, we'll do a written esti-
mate for the customer", says manager
Glen Lloyd, who finds thai most sick
Sinclair machines arrive in the school
holidays.

Lloyd is irritated by magazines
which teach readers how to build
things like interfaces. "Unless you've
done a lot of building, you stand a
good chance of wrecking your compu-
ter," he says. "Some customers think
they're experts when they're not.
They go around connecting strange
things to the Spectrum, like home-
made edge connectors"

The culprit, it seems, is that omi-
nous httle wafer of plastic that goes
vertically down the edge connector. If
that bit falls out you can easily stick
the plug into the wrong hole.

The machine will be damaged un-
less it is switched off within seconds
— ■ so be warned. "We recommend
that you glue the plastic in place to
stop this happenings" says Lloyd,

Another common problem is the
membrane underneath the Spectrum's
'dead flesh' keyboard. That becomes
brittle with age and use and is likely to
need replacing at some point.

Although the company does not
concentrate on education, they do
Coventry City Council's repairs and
they're popular with US customers
too. Users of the old Timex can get it
to perform like a Spectrum if they
have a Sinclair ROM to go inside* so
Quantum do those mail order.

Ishtiaq Hussain at Luton's Cbiltern
Repair Centre bases his service on
'speed and reliability' — two things he
feels Sinclair lacks. "Sinclair would
probably charge you more, and our
service is quicker," he says. ,L We turn
machines around within three to five
days."

Thai is certainly better than Sinc-
lair's efforts on a 10 working day
turnaround system, charging £30
compared wiih HuSsain's £18.

Again, plugging in peripherals

continued on page 64

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

6]

CLASSIC BOOK-KEEPING

By A. G. dough FCA

A fully flexible,, complete Book-keeping system tor the 48K SPECTRUM.

rriicrotsrives and an 80 ccriumn primer, suitable fur any typE of business or

a r gan:saliorv

Fd lo*5 traditional double Entry routines Jrom prime efllry lo Tnal Balance. Ail

rwcrds printed as created, tangible and verifiable ComftreheiStve backup. Once

only entries,

Written by an exper lenced Chartered Accountant to help thoss with less enperienw

Ed achieve lop grade work, but equally good for (he professional bcok-keeper

THE RECORDS

CdWfTY

GENERAL LEDGER
SALES LEDGER
BOUGHT LEDGER

1 TradilKmal
open
A/C formal

250A/c's 250 Art's
500 Art's 250 Arts
500 Art's 250 Art's

CASH RECEIVED
BANK PAYMENTS

i Classic cash book
Running balance.

55(1 items 300 items
55Cp.m, 300pm

PETTY CASH

Gross, net. analysis

No practical limit

SALES DAY BOOK
PURCHASE BOOK

t Date, ref , art, code.
gross, VAT. net SR.

ZR. separate columns

700 invoices 400 p. m

per
7Mmr>nlti 400p.m.

JOURNAL ENTRIES

Ref, deb il, credit,
analysis, narrative

No practical lima

OTHER FEATURES

Interim listing of all prime entries — Multiple coding — Error prevention and
control — Self balancing ledgers — Management auto run program governs all
syntax — STATEMENTS WITH AGED BALANCES — Journal entries — Manual
mlti demonstration printout.

PRICE (Supplied on th res mrt cartridges Senes 500 £E9

Postage Paid Series 250 C4fi

Supplied in three pails (250 Series only)
Pari 1 Sales Ledger package £19.90 Postage paid

2 Bought Ledger package £13. M

3 General Ledger package £13.50

The manual, control and service programs are supplied ONLY with pan 1, To be
effective, parts must be purchased in number order.

CASH BASIS ACCOUNTS

Based on and closely resembling the 250 Series above but excluding Sales and
Purchase Ledgers, Day Books and Statements Suitable for cash based
businesses. Personal accounts, incomplete records. E29 Postage Pad

MANX TAPES. CAREY VEG. GLEN AULDVN. RAMSEY
ISLE OF MAN. PHONE: B 13071

BETA BASIC 3.0

Sinclair tsea, Jan. <a [about hollas i.bi. *has estabuwed nwu AS The siamjard

LXTENDED SAUC FOR THF. SFErTHL.a(,.,...TURNS S«tLAI* BAHC fRDM A GOOD W-flSWM Of
TUL LANGUAGE TO A FAKTAynC ONE... - MO*, WITH UlLLASE IB. «TA BAUC RFrOuEa
P-BOOABLT THE MOST POWERFUL BAMf AVAILABLE OH ANY ».KT WCRO!

■ ?H OCFPUBS - a tpp> Nil ,m F l,.inl« W ,Ka1 -I ,

Y&* eiieadl Spate ppadl}. WlEfe- pprimadpr papain^
fcj pplu* or by r*n>fcnc«. CiEKhjdinp' prrpri),

LOCAL TirUUlov iwJankpa. DETAULT f

U N. , and Aft pMllir id handle pajaaiM**
LISTS of am/ l*flpA. No moc ktjvud u
aaaj4ap^ e.f. j«i cm up? iMnci JIIeb: jpop p^b or
■»»- .tioi I*,!*,* M ptttat tJr.mm.

1 GRAPHICS - up in. 131 WINDOW^, sac* mh Hi
nam «*arai:ip.r ajap (x 1 * 1 ^ l^ - *"8»rWlln*ri p.rpj

HELMbuLaL ROl.l ami STRCll.l any parr cjl l4w
■crBpfl l»r aHy lulpiurl jl planla In any djrtrllun."
Upr GET 10 U£H pafU Of EhM Bafaan, Lhnn as

irwm back aaawrwre il curFBrwH niafnirujMiuna.

raii FILL, ALftK ataraaikaa, FLfJT imrun,
DRAW TO a [ailnl, r.hanaa acmla and na-Lgjn.

• I'iXM KIT rppEiiraa: Ttonumbef wirh b+ocl may* w
cctfrK block DtLtrtX, jisirth pndVw cPtprwc i^.p.
Attn auk. TO at. H U»w-P.fi™a ban. |.lu
HM TPTlpfeapi, BE,, > E-n™«-*. I LU DEF KEY..

omr protirpj Era:
r*HBf! Afla yuri can moac Ehp
called IhhMj ALTTO,

' IDITOR - laaa
aCfcain ED Ijrfial

cwior up afat mown vtUfti
LDn, JOHN wid a-Lrr ccmm*iak.

* LttllMft artch DcHannal ihiornuK: taAaniElon pr

IWjpf, 1r. prcxvdwaM fltT, Wnnil on ai|a|lru| fa^(-

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l» FOP a. I TO 1fr MINT m MEXT ■

aar Id FOR nr\ TO |t>

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■ KEYWORDS (HI ill be ml-urad liv iyulnf Irarai

u r«ll. oi bv Ehe 'ijnclc pnenr raafftaMl, at
bpih 4n rr* urn kjrw; *.*. liaE llnaj
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racpfnlaad araj llpiaal nra-raal !v.

* LiafraaaM L£j RBataaar 1,4 ITUH^nrflrw ir yi» tnulflE

dlradi rfQm uh, Ehcrft ii ne mad 19 ratvrn yiw

CaaBBTII* ■ |UM flW?l# I 1 *" Hppprrral malpj la-lainal
pyrchltE fl#1* arLlh jtmM cadaTJ PCllafWUBD fWUfP
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paca, |a«:n of H.H t(T.H iwihiI bvi4ud«
a rat* InalHJlL

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rvnrihaBi. Yny pjt JOIN prriTi isffllv,

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hllDKart Uala ttaaL LENGTH lurailia: [Itpi
•an. L'lEPa r_l arr., iKJRI - a.^. aNHaXW
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TO Saarrltp, Dt> - LOOP nrWEUft *ll» WHILE,

l.vtie Md FS,rr ir. BKtAPt. CLtAH, iCHXn,

COKTROL £:OOt5, FJMT rarlatnaq, fUE, OST^
KIY1H ^prddrPaPP am atlla l^rhaalraO BialEt-
LtT, 4ULET • "alkur", EX l«,lu anh Una app.
etoik wcJ OH EMKM, Mtt 1, KNU Hrptu,
•op, READ UM, THACE, USHO, OKKL

r»atpr GOTO,, QOHJh pnd rM-NUT loaap.

• H FUNTTTOrA AlaTJ. LIB, XOK, P«C HKU,
BlhV l«. 5UJF. fOSF, RhLTtt CHAR1, NlrlupVII,
DfEEK., EOT, nLULD, B4AHRAY, INSTRIMG. ITEM
LLNGTH, UEMUHYt, MEM, MOD, SCHNi, SHjm,
S11HMC4. niirt*. i.SBPd*.

* i pa A hM Fa Dppar rpapaaH-laaa - apv, capl rap PPLHla]
| l l>l>a. TrapaJaaaoia |p EPrriatriPS, Sjaa^i rt^rf.
« apHrr. Eklrp «m,r jpaaaafpa. CiEaaaaariHp wlip
•kail Jainiar IhEprfaiaa |pJaaaa> aa_ ll T l. W»(p-
PM¥P TPJIPfin PPMapalB.

■ CfHPPTararMlTC AI-UIP*praial. Map Elian U EaaBaa,
PFlIb paaflP EKimi '

* N.laaaa 1. 1 irma.ni aiallattaa. pi a Rraajr arK'P pf
(J.H <£*.» CWPUIlL Yap Capl Jf ~ lalat Lu
RrRUH 1JD To ILH IIT.M lilMMa.ll

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Iep Jaal £|I,M aanptb*; liH.W aFPFaPpiL

I I

(T1CH AS AJffiOli'lilATE.I PLEASE s£NO ML

BETA BASIC ID. PAYMENT OF lll.fl JQR lli.U (Hhjfir AM IS ENCL0WJ>.

BETA BASIC J.D ITCRADE. PAYMENT OF UL9S I.I?.M| 1$ rMCJ.CSCft

BETA BAUC I.E. PAYMENT DT 1B.« -IliMi IS ENCLOSED.

nHH-ir »*O*l»AT10H I." . I htAVl.TJU V-J HAVT tfl f AW » ALHAOI

A STAHFtO AjiORESSf:D fNVELOK IS ENCLOttCL

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32 OKFOflO WD.

Mr«tl.EV

eiHMFNGHAM

THETFORD MICROS

SPECIALIST IN SPECTRUM REPAIRS

21 Guildhall Street,

Thetford,

Norfolk,
Tel: (0842)61645

Service Department

Unit 4, Leyland Close,

Thetford, Norfolk,

Tel: (0842) 65897

Why wait weeks to get your Spectrum repaired

We at Thetford Micros (Service Dept) have just put into operation a new fully equipped workshop to allow us to keep up
our 24 Hours "Guaranteed" repair service on your Sinclair Spectrum computers. We have fully trained staff and our
workmanship and repair work is fully warranteed to give your the confidence that you micro is in the safest hands Any
first time repairs will be £16.00 + VAT + £2.00 postage and package - total £20.40 for any repair on your computer
We also specialise in the repair of the Spectrum microdrive, Interface I, II and ZX printers at the same standard charge
Payment maybe made by cheque, Barclaycard, Access, American Express, or Posiai Order. So all you have to do is
post your faulty Spectrum to us aiong with payment and we will do the rest, your repaired Spectrum will be back in the
post within 24 hours (we never sleep!) and depending on the post office it will be back with you within 5-6 days We have

already undertaken repairs from all over England and the continent.

IrVe also undertake repair wofk on Acorn, Commodore, Amstrad, Texas, Dragon etc., at the lowest of prices.

Any problems with your micro phone Pete on the above telephone numbers - I'll be only too pleased to assist.

We also produce our own Spectrum "48K Upgrade Kits" complete with fitting instructions

£24,00 (VAT+P&P) inclusive.

Swftchable UHF — composite video can be fitted to your Spectrum for oniy £14.00+ VAT +£2.00 P&P.

Trade enquiries welcome

62

SINCLAIR USER August !9SS

A

^

■■■

i

Appro aching fast...
brain -blowing graphics ...mega-blasting power.. .fast-acti on playabiuty,
'highway encounter'.., a totally new direction from vortex.

once you're on it.. .there's no turning back.

HIGHWAY ENCOUNTER FOR SPECTRUM 48K ■ £7.95

VD<T£X SOrTW**E fSALES} LIMITED. VORTEX HOUSE. 24 HANSAS AYENUf. OFF SOUTH 1AWQWORTH* ROAD. SALFORD MS 2GL

S3 Maintenance

tonnnmd from page 61

while your Spectrum is on was Hus-
sain's main warning, combined with
messing about with your machine.

Meanwhile, if you are stationed in
the depths of Norfolk, MP Electronic
Services in Dereham is a good bet. A
ZX-81 repair is £12.50 including six
month's warranty, while Spec trams
cost a straight £20 all-in. The com-
pany also does modifications to power
supplies and ULA circuitry,

"About SO percent have been
damaged by users, by the 'power on'
phenomenon. There are Jots of mem-
ory failures and CPUs getting dam-
aged by users," says service manager
Alan Jackson.

The bulk of MP's foreign custom
comes from the RAF and WRAF in
Germany — they do a lot of work for
the forces here, too, so most of the
work comes through recommenda-
tion.

Having heard more than a few
complaints about Sinclair, we turned
to them for their comments. Official-
ly, repair time is 10 working days from
the date Sinclair receives your burnt/
broken offering. Asked about the long
delays, spokesman Julian Goldsmith
says, "If you consider that there are
one and a half million Spectrums in
the UK, even if you handle 0.1 per-
cent of them, that's still a lot, especial-
ly considering that things get lost in
the post etc,"

Commenting on independent
maintenance companies, he says; "If
those people are more local and conve-
nient for people, fine. Hie only prob-
lem is if it's done by people who aren't
properly qualified or who use the
wrong parts. It's like putting one star
petrol in a Rolls Royce."

Goldsmith says he is unaware that
people are having problems getting
spares for the QL and that "they
wouldn't need them anyway," as most
are still in warranty.

Although the one year warranty still
stands, you will not get your Spectrum
replaced by Sinclair after it has gone
more than one month into its warran-
ty period, as Sinclair has had problems
with users "seeking to get a new
machine at the end of its life and
generally taking advantage of the re-
turn system."

If the hardware has been tampered
with in any way during the warranty
period, you invalidate the warranty,
but the upgrade kit which lets you
turn your Spectrum into a Spectrum
Plus, by attaching a keyboard, is an

exception to that. Goldsmith says
Sinclair will do this for you if you do
not feel happy about DIY.

Sinclair charges £30 for a Spectrum
repair out of warranty and will charge
a horrendous £60 for the QL. If you
have a bust ZX-81, forget it, "You can
buy them for about £20 from Boots or
elsewhere so I don't think we'd bother
mending it," says Goldsmith.

Video Vault at Glossop, Derbyshire
has a computer which checks each
micro coming in for repair. Riad

"the message is

that independent

companies are not

only faster than

Sinclair but

cheaper too

tf

Kassar, managing director, says, "We
put a connector onto the circuit board
of the customer's micro and it reads
the board to find the fault. Many
customers have messed about with
their machines and have put the
wrong components in,"

Video Vault turns over 400
machines a week and has a claimed
success rate of 95 percent. Not only is
it good to find a company which
admits it is not 100 percent perfect
but it also gives you a free game with
your repair so you can test out your
Spectrum to see if it has been mended
properly. Jolly Roger, a graphic
adventure worth £6.00, was written by
the company and uses all 48K of the
Spectrum memory. "We have a thor-
ough checking system and we even
put new rubber feet on if they're
missing." Cute, eh?

A security seal is put on each
machine afterwards so that if it is
returned a second time, the company
can see whether someone has tam-
pered with it. If the seal is intact, the
machine will be repaired again.

Spectrums are fixed for £19.95 in-
clusive and they do Spectrum Plus
upgrades for £30 plus postage and
packing. A repair and upgrade is
£49.95.

At TV Services in Cambridge, man-
aging director, Ben Done charges
£18.75 for Spectrum repairs, £11.50
for ZX-81s and £19.95 for I6K RAM
packs. They will also do QL and
microdrive repairs once spares are
delivered and are happy to repair for
foreign users,

Meanwhile, beyond the bracken
and heather MicroServ in darkest
Denny, Scotland, is doing its stuff. In
fact, Sinclair had better watch out if
manager Jim Lynch keeps to his
expected price for QL repairs —
estimated at £20 plus parts, post-
age and packing, making a likely price
of around £30. Spectrums cost £20
and ZX-81 s £15 and both prices are
inclusive, "We'd give an estimate over
the phone but not a definite quote
until we'd seen the machine/ and
there's a three month warranty on
each repair." Spectrum repairs take an
hour while you wait or 24 hours if
posted.

Overall, the message seems to be
that independent companies are not
only faster than Sinclair but cheaper
too, in addition to giving a more
personal service.

Users wanting to keep their ZX-81*
in good nick will find them useful, and
it is worth deciding whether to insure
your micro through one of the com-
panies mentioned or take pot luck
with one of the other companies.
Many advertise in Sinclair User and
the list below is only a fraction of the
outfits in existence.

One reader did have problems with
a service company based in Birming-
ham. After continual problems trying
to get his Spectrum fixed by the com-
pany, the reader eventually got some
joy at Computer-fix instead.

We would like to hear your experi-
ences of such companies first hand, so
if you have any comments on the
subject, or any friends who have used
them, do write to us at Sinclair User.

Where to go

Verran Gorttpuicx-fti Services, Unit 2H &
21, Albany Park, Frimlcy, Cam bet lev, Sur-
rey, Tel: 0276-66266

Domestic & General Insurance Company,
Swan Court, Manse) Road, London SW19.
Tel: 01-946 7777

Mancomp Lid, Prim works Lane, Leven-
shulmc, Manchester M19 3JP Tel: 061-224

its*

Quantum, 33 City Arcade, Coventry. Tel:

020 3-24632

Chiltern Computer Centre , 76b Dailow

Road t Luton, Bedfordshire, Tel: 0582-

455684

MP Electronic Services, The Laurels,

Wendlinfc, Dereham, Norfolk. Tel: 0362-

87327

Video Vault, 140 High Street West, (,l ...

sop, Derbyshire, Tel: 045-74-66555

TV Services, Cheston Mill, Frenches Road,

Cambridge, Tel: 0223-358366

MicroServ, Unit 4 t Denny Workspace,

Currunbank Crescent, Denny, Scotland.

Tel: 0324-823468

64

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

GET T H

P I C T U R

MONOLITH
3rd Floor, Lector Court, 161 FarHngdon Road.
London EC! H 3AD,

'rke €9-95 inc. P&P
ChequesiPQE payable to Monolith
Credit cards call 01 -S3? 2999 CBM64

SUMMER SAVERS

SPECTRUM/PLUS

,vw*

INCLUDING INTERFACE

PLUGS S TRAfGHTWQ SPECTRUM/PL US

£15.99

ONLYJL- f «/*VV POSTFREE

• TOP + TRIGGER FIRE BUTTON

• AUTO FIRE MODE

• KEMPSTON COMPATIBLE

• STABILIZING SUCTION CUPS

• SPECTRUM OR PLUS • UNBEATABLE OFFER

SEND FOR INSTANT DESPA TCH

PRICE BREAKTHROUGH

SWITCHABLE
JOYSTICK
INTERFACE

'**Ot«Ci

ONL Vi- i£*.\MiJ POST FREE

• ALL THREE SYSTEMS AT THE FLICK OF A SWITCH
•KEMPSTON-'CURSOR -INTERFACE II'

• ACCEPTS ANY 9 PIN JOYSTICK-IN CLUDING
RAPID FIRE MODELS •SPECIALOFFERI!

Buy w ith QU I CKS HOT 1 1 comp I ete f o r on ly ffQ QQ

SEND NOWL # J#«OT

Now you can create Superb Graphics
gasify with the New

Lightwriter

ONLY

£16.99

POS T FREE
Lightpen comas
complete with
Interface & Software

'JusipjuginttieOoteiLtgtirwriiwapddrawcircfes. squares, reeiangtes, make
superb fiatxf drawings, point, fi//, erase, choose inks, paper, colours * Saveyow
results into memory 148k) enduseinenimtltran orseve onto tape to uS9rn your
own game*. » Aft fttfictiofts setecte-d from Screen menuwiththelighlpen.
• Unbeatable value. * Noitting,more to buy.

SEND NOW AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY

<Z-

Dtgriat Sound Sampting Technology.

NQWAv&Me
on yaw Spectrum

Complete twit ant Software

FAQ 00 f*** 3 *

X. TJ* t7«7 POST FREE

t ftpm/ Sound SVHfPtns Ht on/v prrvwslv bran
avatlab/wfarlaY^mmcmianiismttngitlettt 10
tannmtfnmms ■ TH» Sound Sampler attpws ,w. tr>
murd 'Dtgita*,' an r wund mto maytwr **J rnuWritfr iplav
it at mnp pitch. tQnA&ttfS. &*£rbtv4fifa, aicendtnp scale, campttzfavl fr^*^rfftf
umttacna. tncfeislrtooiitifrtc • Supplnd camftmf iMrfi JMuw ft*t*afir la fxrfrmr* thr at***
opanthom, giurantcum Vwe* fffti * Fiftjuwirr Phming. • item cm scr m» iayboard ♦ jfojm
k\l a u/tHUr sympntiriy cou/tfbrprodacrdframfiinglm S**iptt StH/nd * Oka ij a afalrjaonai htm
iraiu'mgS S-t O ro A0C «wiv*rrfr l 3 41 utrdf.1 Dy/tatniiHpmrnt no** $ttot*fi#*$ the ittus'C wvrfd
■ *Jtf>ovgh tfir unit auou tap. ffiwnj rttfty If Wumrfrfig tiulti fat t/ir n.\usxm)n/ mOmrm. mt fl*rt
"WPPW^J j?^"ff i -vifr^ffiT to afow iwj lautt Soutxt Samping rn ybvr Own gardes etc , ig fflw

ALLOW? DAVS
TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME

24 HR CREDIT

CARD line

fOATfl

UNITS, FENTQN INQVSTRiAL ESTATE,
OEwYSBURV ROAD. FEN TON
STOKE -ON TRENT
TEL 0JS2I7381S

SINCLAIR
COMPUTER REPAIRS

Why risk expensive repair charges?

Send your faulty machine to the company that tells ycm lis prices m advance
And guarantees the quality ol its workmanship

Look at lh«sa prioeal

ZXSpeclrtifri..,,, „ ,. JJW( „„„.„Ei6.00

ZX81 „ „ „ E12.00

■"' DflY FTj^Pn t>..jj J t... JJ . t ^... 1 ; || i n |HWIIHtWH<W+tH irrrrrnnirrmiiii in Bill El ZiOU

ZXIntarf«»1._ „.„™ C1800

ZX Interface 2 , C13.S0

ZX. Microdrive .„......, , — — _™„ m E17.50

ZXPrlnlef,.... „ ^^^^^ £18.00

ZX Spectrum 1 G-4SK Upgrade , „™.„„„ £25.00

ZX Power Supptys (Replfleerr>ent^ r „ „ C9.9S

These prices include Parts, Labour. Return PostaQe fiasund). VAl & Full Wwwity

r

For i last and reliable service , send machins , brief description ol fauli and cheque
or postal ureter for the relevant amount to Ihe experts

CAPITAL COMPUTER SERVICES

Q»p"t SU, 44 Rich a Road, Cardiff. CF4 4 AA
Tm\i (0222)614401

For a year's peace- of nwfl

EXTINDED WAHRANTTS

* Tho Gold Service Repair Club *

One year's membership to ltng popular schema for Sp*clfum o*n«rs costi orty
E1B.95 and covers all repair charges (including relurn postage! for that period

Membership is subiectto theccmrJilion thatyomr machine be <n perfect working
order on enroime-nl (discount repairs available tu prospective members)

Other tompanys will charge you this, much lor a tingle repair!

Write or phoiw fc an application lorm

iff-

4 Games for the
ZX Spectrum

Order this new flASiC programming course fur
Introductory price of just E9 95 and you will
receive Ihesa 4 greal ijames absolutely FREE

This new concept in computer education wilt take you

beyond simple BASIC instructions, into the

world ol the prolessbonais where you win learn

Ihelr secret techniques It comes on cassette

so you simply relax In from

ol your television and

watch and listen as

we show you how to

get the mosl

Irom your

micro.

ATTRIBUTES
PEEK b POKE
PLOT & DRAW
ANIMATED GRAPHICS
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
NIGH BBS. GRAPHICS
FULL COLOUR & SOUND
BftCTRUM HOLDINGS LTD

Mans Cheque or Postal Order lor E9.95 payable to
and send to: P &QX HH. CFtAWLCV, RH10 4FU

Name

f*0 BOX 104. CRAWLEY. RH10 4FU

SPECTRUM MOLDINGS LTD 1

ArfrfmH

[Ek PROFESSIONAL

PriBlrfirlH T*\-

f® SOFTWARE

Orders despatched within 7 days.

BUB

Orders dei

rS6

SINCLAIR USER Augiut mS

D O M A R K

presents

•

7,

AVIEWtq A KILL

the Computer Qame

YOU will become
James Bond

his first arcade/adventure

AVAILABLE NOW ON

Spectrum 48K, Commodore 64,

and watch out for

Enterprise, Amstrad,

MSX and others

Domark Ltd . 204 Wotple Road, London &YY20 8PN. Tel: 01-947 5624 Telex: 894475 G

r

To Domark Ltd . 204 Worpie Road.
London SW20 8PN
DOMARK Telex: 894475 G

ORDER VOUR COPY NOW!

CALL 01-947 5624 .'5/6

OFFICE HOURS ONLY

NAME: {B1QCK LETTER S| , , , ,

ADDRESS , .......

COUNTY POSTCODE

Please send me copies of "A View to a Kill - The Computer Game 1

at E10.99 (includes postage and packing).

I enclose a cheque/P.O forE ......... .....

My computer is: .„, „„ .„„.„..

You may order by Access D Visa D American Express D by post or

telephone (01-947 5624/5/6) office hours only

Please debit my CREDIT CARD Q Signature.

Account No:

Expiry Date: , SU3

/ x r

Business Software

THE PROFESSIONAL TOUCH

INCLUSIVE

SPECTRUM 48K BUSINESS SOFTWARE

The NEW Transform Keyboard transforms
your Spectrum Into a fully operational
professional machine

■ WIH Incorporate both microdrive and

power supply.

• 65 keys including fullsize space bar.

• Large ENTER key.

• Full stop, comma, semicolon, colon,
singfe delete, edit and cursor keys

• ON /OFF switch with LED.

• Easy installation — no soldering

• Black metal case,

• EMODE key

' Its price reflects the kind of use to which it will be put.
but It's certainly the top keyboard at the moment -
SINCLAIR USSR, JUKI 1**4

MONITORS

BUSINESS PACK EU95p

The suiie of programs, includes Sale* Day Book.
Purchase Day Book and Business Bank Accounf
These programs ore being used by Over 10QQ
companies to produce VAT and annual account
the Purchase and Bank Account progrartis allow
for analyses under 17 subheadings The Sales
programs produce statements of outstanding
mvotces. Both Sale* and Purchase programs
calculate VAT

INVOICING £15Q0p

This program will print ouf invoices, catculaies
discounts and VAI The program will calculate
total; from unit prices. Up to 50 accounts with 250
outstanding Invoices

SALES/ PURCHASE LEDGES IN VOIC ING £2 S, OOp

This program is for use on microdrive or Opus Disc
only The program will print an invoice using a
built-in price fist and post the invoice to your
customed} account. Will also print price list,
statements, labels, etc

WORDPROCESSING

T AS WORD TWO by tasman £24,95p

Tasword Two is a powettut word processing
program that will perform all Ihe functions

available on large processors Trie program will
give you 64 characters per line on screen.

TASPRINT by Tasman Software £9.9Dp

Use this program with Tasword Two to produce 5
different fonts on a dat matrix printer

PAYROLL

E19.95p

PAYROLL by Byte One

This payroll program will handle up lo 40

employees ana will calculate NIC. PAVE,

superannuation and many other deductions. This is

a very user friendly program and ejctremeiy good

value.

STOCK CONTROL

STOCK CONTROL E10-95p

Handles 900 lines: including details of supplier
Program has full search facilities enabling v qu to
search and update all iines from one supplier

DATABASES

MASTERFILI by Campbell Systems £14 ?Sp

This is one of frs besl database programs
available for the ZX Spectrum Thrs program has
many uses «i a small business

SUPERFUE El4.95p

This ts a new database program mot siores pages
of text 6d columns x 22 rows The program includes
word processing and full search facilities

V NOTCH £1295p

Index and Catalogue System, lor collections of
photographs, recipes, boots. knitting patterns.
stamps, etc Up k> 3500 items per file full search
facilities

SPREAD SHEET

OMNI C A LCbv Microsphere KM 95p

This Is Hie long-awaited mscro-dnve version of
omnlicalc complete with histograms and many
other features.

BUSINESS GRAPHICS

HISTO GRAPH E10 9Sp

This program will enable you to present figures in
histograms or pie charts. Displays 3 years as a
direct comparison or 5 years to show a trend A
unique feature of this program is thai oil the figures
can be printed with the histogram

All software Is supplied on canette. ir you nequJre any err
the fcwnw DOCfc Or mvotCing progrcms sup0Ih*S on <*SC
ptsae add EAGOp to the above ptiam

ACCESSORIES

Blank microdrive cartridges

E1.99p

Microdrive storage bones

ES,95p

RS 232 lead

£11 50p

Monichrome monitor connecior . .

£11 50 p

RGB monitor connector

£ AS OOp

CentTonlcs Interfoce

E44.90p

3Vs" floppy discs

£4 flip

Continuous Paper 20Q0 sheets

El2,9ftp

Continuous labels 1000

£6 65 p

UTILITIES

DLAN by Campbell Systems £ 7,9 5 p

Use your Spectrum to sell your products, Dion will
display messages in up to 11 different typefaces
wm scroll text In any direction.

TASWIDE by Tosman Software ES.SOp

Vou can use this program within your olher
programs to display 44 columns on screen.

MF-PRINT by Campbell Systems £6 ,95p

Enables you lo set a print format for your full- sue
printer within masterfife. Supplied complete with
masterfile for £19.95

TASMEflGE by asman Software E10-95p

Allows you to transler data from Masterfile into
Toswotd enabling you to use Tasword Tor mail
merge. The program allows you to specify line and
column of each field. For use on micro-drive only

TRANSEXPRESS by Romantic Robol £9.95p

Micro-drive utility program which will enable you
to back-up all voor miero-dnve cartridges

TASCOPY by Tasman Software E9.90p

This program allows you to produce 3 s*zes of
screen copy using Interface 1.

Phillips Black and Green
Kaga Taxan Black and Green
Sinclair QL Vision .... . .

C7&.00P
E99 95p

£299. OOp

PRINTERS

Centronics ''RS 232 interface

E44.90p

DOT MATRIX PAINTERS
Brolher MJ009
Epson IXflO
Epson FX8Q ....
Taxon Kaga KP81Q

£163 ODD
£199 OOp
EJ24 OOp
£2A0.00p

DAISVWHEEL PRINTERS

Smith Corona Tpl
Brother HR1S

ElftVOOp
£3*9 OOp

Telephone for prices on other punters Please add
£5.00 delivery and VAT to both printers and
monitors

DISC-DRIVES

Discovery 1 by Opus i7Sk
Discovery 2 by Opus 360k

£199 95p
£329 95 p

MAILING LIST. £14.95p

This program will allow you fo quickly store and
retrieve names and addresses from wttrwi
ARCHIVE Features Include Stngle key functions,
prints address labels, exports flies lo QumI for
mailing Est; atso compatible with our stockcontroi
file

STOCK CONTROL. £14 95 p

Keeps a complete record of all your slock rtems
Including retail price, trade price, minimum order
level, items on order and many other features

INTEGRATED ACCOUNTS. £A9 95p

This new program from. Sinclair will allow you to
produce full profit and loss account

PAYROLL. £*3.2Sp

Calculates weekly, monthly or 4 weekly payroll fufi
tax calculations, coin analysts and paymenl
rounding.

CENTRONICS INTERFACE

RS232 LEAD

MONICHROME MONITOR LEAD

. . £29 95p

. £10 OOp

£S OOp

TRANSFORM LTD (Dept. SU) 01 -658 6350
24, West Oak, Beckenham, Kent BR3 2EZ

Business Software

Stock Manager

THE TEDIOUS business of stocktak-
ing may be at an end with an up-dated
program from OCP.

Stock Manager for the 48 K Spec-
trum is designed to keep records of
items held in stock and produce in-
voices. There are now four versions
available. The version reviewed here is
for the SPDOS disc system.

Compared with a loading time of
around four and a half minutes for the
cassette versions the SPDOS version is
loaded automatically in just over 10
seconds.

The number of stock items handled
by the program has also been in-
creased from 600 items to 6300 on the
SPDOS version. At extra cost, ver-
sions for an S00K disc, handling up to
17550 items, are available.

Machine coding provides Stock
Manager with almost instantaneous
retrieval of data from memory.
Although only 450 items are held in
memory at any one time, details on
any item from one to 6300, or even
17550, can be displayed on the screen
in under five seconds.

Most printer interfaces for the Spec-
trum require software to run them,
OCP has provided software for 15
interfaces in the program,

When setting up the system the
number of the first invoice, the name
and address of the company, are
entered. Once set up that name cannot

be changed but the address can be.

To set up the stock data the amend/
change option is selected from the
main menu. The stock number, name
— up to 25 characters — price exclud-
ing VAT, whether VAT is chargeable
and the stock level at which items
should be recorded, are input.

Unfortunately, a separate option,
stock increase, must be used to enter
the initial stock levels. A stock de-
crease option is also given, Those
options allow adjustments to be made

control programs available - — re-
viewed in the August '84 issue — the
buying-in cost is not used. That is
probably the easiest to use and has the
advantage of producing invoices.

The SPDOS system, with its faster
loading and increased data nzc, im-
proves an already excellent program.
With OCP's backing, SPDOS should
become the disc system for business
users.

Since this review was written, the
SPDOS system has been bought by

yfP^^JrnHE CLOSE

[LONDON
SkJl 3ftU

22 n.iy

1985

PRICE yftUJE

\uo.

GOODS
UQHINAL LEDGER

DtSCOUWT SO*

CUBE

VALUE EXCL.

taw y* T

7.75

IB. 75

14.93

VAT

23*29

44. si

L00O.OO

431 •

vat]

O-tiO

$.&>

B 4.7B

fa. 73

ISO. 00

fait, 07

-««i»-^!IL

VAT

3022 .90
3455.-73

«t-25

so that the stock level is accurate.

Both the invoice and price list
options print the company name at the
lop of the paper and its presentation is
unusually poor. The items for the
invoice are entered by their stock
number. An excellent series of error-
trapping routines ensures that you can
rectify most mistakes.

Unlike some of the other stock

KempsTon and renamed KDOS. It
has a tape-disk facility and is compat-
ible with all SPDOS software, inclu-
ding Stock Manager.

Mike Wnghi

Publisher OCP 77a Packharse Road,
Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire
5L9 8PQr*rie* £19.95
+ + **

Classic
Bookkeeping

IF YOU run a small business, you
might look at a new accounting system
from Manx Tapes.

Classic Book-keeping and Finan-
cial Accounts is a 15-program pack-
age for a 48 K Spectrum, single mic-
rodrive and full -sized printer. It is
supplied on two microdrive cartridges
and a further five cartridges are re-
quired for data and interim program
storage. If back up cartridges are
made then 14 cartridges are necessary
to run the system.

The manual is adequate. It does
have its weak points and the section on
installing the system leaves a great
deal to be desired.

The author appears to have been
blinkered by the intricacies of book-

keeping to the extent that the user is
forgotten when it comes to providing
the extra touches which make a prog-
ram easy to use.

The details needed to install the
system are contained in four prog-
rams. To use a different part of the
install option, an error is forced to
stop the current program, by using a
non-existent second microdrive. You
must then reload the system before the
install option and the relevant prog-
ram selected. That also applies to
other sections of the system. Very
tedious.

Unusually , there is a facility for
increasing the amount of data hand-
led. That does not alter the size of the
arrays holding the data but alters the
variables used to determine how often
the system chugs round the loops.

The system keeps three ledgers —
general, sales and purchases — and six
programs to enter data. Those are cash

received, bank payments, petty cash
payments, sales journal, purchase
journal and journal entries.

Apart from keeping the books the
system will also produce account state-
ments for customers which are well
laid out with all necessary details.

Although the entry of data into
Classic Book-keeping and Financial
Accounts is relatively easy, the time
wasted with large numbers of microd-
rive cartridges makes it unwieldy*

It Is an impressive accounting sys-
tem which you might prefer not to use
but it is one from which you might be
only too happy to receive reports,

MUu Tngk

Publisher Manx Tapes Garey Veg.
Glen Audtyn, Ramsey, Isle of M»n
Priea £69.95

IT*'

more business softtoort on pugt 12

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

<W

Thinking software?

THE TASWORD WORD PROCESSORS

Tfte extensive features of the Tasword word processors a«
ides! for both the home and business user. Every Tasword
comes complete with a comprehensive manual and a
cassette or disc. The cassette or disc contains your
TASWORD and TASWORD TUTOR. This teaches you word
processing using TASWORD. Whether you have serious
applications or simply want to learn about word
processing, TASWORD and TASWORD TUTOR make if
easy and enjoyable.

TASWORD TWO (Spectrum J

64 characters per line on the screen!

'Without Ooubt tfte best utility I have reviewed (or tfte Spectrum. "

HOME COUmjIlNG WEfmAWIL IW

'it you have been looking for a word processor, then look no further. "

The cassette program is supplied with instructions for
mic rod rive conversion.

TASWORD TWO* ZX 48K Spectrum ca ssette £ 1 3 .90
miaodnve cartridge £15.40

THE TASPRINT STYLE WRITERS

A must for dot-matrix printer owners! Print your program
output and listings in a choice of five impressive print styles.
The Tasprints utitise the graphics capabilities of dot matrix
printers to form, with a double pass of the printhead,
output in a range of five fonts varying iron, the futuristic
Data-Run to the hand writing simulation of Palace Script. A
TASPRINT gives your output originality and stytei The
TASPRINTS drive alt Epson compatible eight pin dot-matrix
printers, e.g. necpc^Q23b-n brother hr$

EPSON FX-SO IWVJNESMANN TALLY MT-80 SHINWACP-BO

EPSON RX-flG STAT? DMP 505/5! 5 DATAC PANTHER

EPSON MX-BO TYPE If I COSMOS-BO DAT AC FANTH ER II

Five jmpressrve print styles for your use:

COflPftCTfl - bold and heavy, good for emphasis
Efllfl^RLiCi - fi FUTURISTIC SCRIPT
LECTURA LIGHT - clean and pleasing to read
HEDIftH ~ a serious business-like script

P02fl££ &1<JP3 - a dUUxcttvt itwlw W

lypcal lasfwino output, Pli-asr n«p iftai Artlmenr nutn of priraw produce diFI*r*nr umJouipui

TASWORD EINSTEIN

A sixty-four character per line display and the ability to
hold over five hundred lines of text at any time are just
some of the features of this, the most recent of the
Taswords. Full interaction with the disc system — e.g.
TasWord detects the presence of added drives and allows
their use.
TASWORD EINSTEIN Tatunq Einstein disc £1 9-95

TASWORD MSX

With all the features of the Spectrum Tasword Two

including the amazing sixty four character per line display.
The Tasword MSX machine code program utilises the 32K
of memory not normally available to Basic allowing over
five hundred fines of text to be held in memory

£13*90

TASWORD MSX* 64 K MSX Computers

Fully inclusive mail order price

(cassette includes both disc and tape versions)

TASWORD 464

'There is no Detierjustlfication far buying a 464 than this program "

POPJLWCDMPUllNGWFFKlVNOVlMBtff l%*

A particularly sophisticated yet easy to use program. Now
available on disc The cassette version is supplied with

instructions for transferring to disc

TASWORD 464* Amstrad CPC 464 & 664

cassette £1 9'9S
disc £22*95

TASWORD 464 D

This is the new Tasword especially developed to utilise the
capabilities of the CPC 464 and 664 disc drives. A major
new feature is a powerful mail merge facility. Tasword
464-D will only ru n on, and is only supplied on, disc. >
TASWORD 464-D Amstrad CPC 464 & 664 disc £24-95

TASPRINT (Spectrum!

Dwesalf the printer interfaces compatible with TASWORD
TWO and can be used to print TASWORD TWO text files as

well as output from your own Basic programs.

cassette £9-90
microdriye cartridge £11 -40

TASPRINT 4SK Spectrum

TASPRINT EINSTEIN

Pnnr TASWORD EINSTEiN text files in one or more of the

TASPRINT fonts . __

TASPRINT EINSTEIN disc £14-95

TASPRINT QL

TASPRINT OL includes a screen editor used to modify files
created by other commercial software, such as QUILL or by
the user from BASIC These modified files include TASPRINT
control characters and may be printed, using TASPRINT, in
one or more of the unique TASPRINT fonts
TASPRINT Ql Sinclair QL microdrive cartridge £19*95

TASPRINT 464

Can be used to print AMSWORD^TASWORD 464 text files
m addition to output from your own Basic programs.
Drives the Amstrad DMP-1 in addition to the printers

Irsted above.

TASPRINT 464 Amstrad CPC 464 & 664

cassette £9*90
disc £12-90

TASWORD UPGRADES

Tasword 464 and Amsword owners, send your original
cassette or disc [not the packaging] as proof of purchase.
Your original will be returned together with Tasword
464-D on disc £13*90

•Available from larger Jwa-ntfres or Boors

Q I is a (r^defnarlc of Stridor Re^e^rch Umi'ed

think Tasman

THE TASCOPY SCREEN COPIERS

The TASCOPY screen copiers print high resolution screen
copies with different dot densities and patterns for the
various screen colours This gives the screen copies a
shaded effect which presents on a monochrome scale the
colours on the screen. With TASCOPY you can keep a
permanent and impressive record of your screen pictures
and diagrams. TASCOPY supports af! the printers
mentioned under TASPRINT

TASCOPY (Spectrum & Interface 1 J

The Spectrum TASCOPY is for use with the RS232 output
on ZX interface i . It produces monochrome copies fin a
choice of two sizes) as well as copies with the shaded
"grey scale" effect described above
TASCOPY ZX Spectrum

cassette £9-90
microdrive cartridge £11 '40

TASCOPY QL

TASCOPY OL adds new commands to the QL Superfa^u
Execute these commands to print a shaded copy of the
screen contents Print the entire screen orjust a specified
WFncfow TASCOPY QL also produces large "poster size"
screen copies on more than one sheet of paper which can
then be cur and joined to make the poster, and high speed
small copies.

TASCOPY QL Sinclair QL microdnve cartridge £12-90

TASCOPY 464

Adds two new commands to the 464 Basic to give both a
standard shaded screen copy as well as a "poster size"
copy which rs printed onto, two or four sheets which can
be cut and joined to make the poster

TASCOPY 464 Amstrad CPC 464 & 664

cassette £9*90
drsc £12-90

Available from, good software stockists and direct from.

TASMAN

SOFTWARE

Springfield House, Hyde Terrace,
Leeds LS2 9LN ■ tel (0532) 438301

Telephone AceesWisa ofders: Leeds |OS32J 43830 P

PLUS . . .

TASWIDE The Screen Stretcher

With this machine code utility you can write your own
Basic programs that will, with normal PRINT statements,
print onto the screen in the compact lettering used by
TASWORD TWO. Wrth TASWJDE you can double the
information shown on the screen I

TASWIDE ZX 1 6K + 48K Spectrum

£5-50

TAS MERGE The Mail Merger

Transfer data from MASTERFILE to TASWORD TWO! Letters
and forms typed on TASWORD TWO can be printed with
addresses and data taken from MASTERFILE The mail
merge facility allows, for example, multiple copies of a
letter to be printed, each containing a drfferent name and
address taken from your MASTERFILE data. To use
TASMERGE you must nave one or more microdrives 35
well as TASWORD TWO and MASTERFILE Oy Campbell

Systems (version 9 or later).

£10'«

TASMERGE ZX 48K Spectrum

TASMAN PRINTER INTERFACE

Plug into your Spectrum and drive any printer fitted with
the Centronics standard paraJlel interface. Supplied

complete with ribbon cable and driving software. The user
changeable interface software makes it easy to send
control codes to your printer using the method so
successfully pioneered with TASWORD TWO The cassette
contains fast machine code high resolution Full width
SCREEN COPY SOFTWARE for Epson, Ma nnesmann Tally
Shinwa. Star, and Tandy Colour Graphic [m colourl)
printers. TASCOPY, shaded screen copy software for this
interface jvafue E9-90 — see description on left) is included
in this package.

CENTRONICS INTERFACE ZX Spectrum

£39-90

COMPUTER PRINTER CABLES

RV U for ZX INTERFACE 1

MSX CENTRONICS

AMSTRAD CPC 464 CENTRONICS

£14-50
£800
C9-90

if you do not want to cut (Mi magaane, simply wme qui your order and post to
TASMAIM SOFTWARE DEPTSU SprangfieW HOuSt Hyd? Tettaee Leeds U29UV

I tnticxe a cheque/PD made payable to TASUMN SOFTWAPf [ H Of? charge my

i ACCESWfcA number

j rjAME IT EW

PMQ

ADDfi£S<,

Sendmellv free Tasman brochure describing your product \_J Ticfchmr
I would like to know more jbout your programs fc* (please ftdc|

AJI pficej include VAT and packaging.

Business Software

Decision Maker

IN ANY business ;i range of mathe-
matical tools can be used to solve
problems and help make decisions-
Decision Maker for the 48 K Spec-
trum is ont such tool.
It is designed to give an understand-

oritir t>(h!

o

Lng of the concepts of decision analy-
sis, and then to allow those concepts to
be put into practice.

Decision analysis is a technique
used for solving problems in which
decisions have to be made. It involves
constructing a diagram showing the
outcome of each decision and its
relationship to the original decision.

The package consists of a teaching

cassette , an applications cassette and a
manual . Only one of the 1 2 chapters is
devoted to running the applications
program. That one chapter is the
driest of them all.

The teaching cassette contains JO
programs, each designed to be used in
conjunction with a chapter of the
manual .

Each program deals with a particu-
lar aspect and usually includes a selec-
tion of multiple choice questions at the
end. Before you move onto the next
program an analysis of your perform-
ance is displayed with the option of
running through the questions again.
At times the questions repeat them-
selves with monotonous regularity.

The applications program allows
you to build up a decision tree,
starting from a first decision. At each
decision the number of outcomes is
entered, followed by the name, value
and, if it is subject to chance, the
probability for each outcome in turn.
The tree has a maximum of 150
decisions and five outcomes for each
decision. A useful feature — chain —
allows part of the structure to be
repeated without retyping. The whole
tree, minus details, can be shown on

the screen. An excellent range of
editing facilities allows the data to be
changed at almost any stage.

As you are unable to examine any
decision other than the first from the
main menu detailed study becomes
tedious. Unless you are extremely
adept at analysing the structure of
those problems in your head, you need
to outline the tree on paper before

entering the details. Fortunately, the
speed of the calculations for even a
medium-size tree makes it worth-
while,

Mike Wnght

Street London W1X 3LA
Memory 48K Prie* El 495

Computer Accessories

ZX Spectrum and QL
Microdrive Storage Box

Designed to match QL and Spectrum
> Holds 20 cartridges and index cards
• Fully interlocking

Spectrum and QL

Available trorp se'ecled
W h Smnh 5 sn'j leadmg

ynputer shops

QL Centronics Interface . . . . £29.95

QL Dust Cov& £5.00

QL RS 232 Lead £10.00

QL Monitor £299.00

Spectrum monochrome monitor connector Ell 50

Spectrum V Dust Cover £4.00

Microdrive Cartridges £199

Spectrum R.G.B Connector £45 00

Spectrum repairs £15,95

»We also supply printers, monitors, labels,
ribbon and listing paper.

j TRANSFORM LTD. (Dept.SU) 089 283 4783 S
Swatlands; Lucks Lane, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6QL.

The Rotronics

Wafadrive
' Peripheral of

the Year '

The Computer Trade Association/Leisure
Electronics Trader Peripheral of the Year
Award. Persona] Computer News Best Buy.
And nominated for tht_ a British Micro Awards.
All these successes are a result of Waf adrive s
transformation of Spectrum data storage

Now, the power and convenience of floppy
d i s k can be yours, but at a fraction of the cost -
only £129-95!

Wafadrive houses five major components -
micro interface, two 128K drives, RS232 serial
and Centronics parallel ports - all within one
compact unit. We've also included Spectral
Writer — a superb word processing program -
and a blank wafer. So you can start operating
straightaway.

Wafers are available in three sizes - 128K,
64K and lliK. All load well overten times as
fast as cassette, and their data integrity is on a
par with floppy disk!

You 11 find a rapidly growing range of
software from games to business applications.

Find out more about the Wafadrive revo-
lution. Ring us on High Wycombe 45275? or
write to Rotronics Limited, Santosh House,
Marlborough Trading Estate, West Wycombe
Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HPU 7 LB- We'll
send you our full colour brochure by return .

ROTRONICS

TumpkihT Tintlc A'ivjjcijiliiiri Km PiiHtudof the Year (Peripheral I

the Spectrum storage system

Simple and 'mi
programming Plufl Dht &m
(unction connectors trite Ifve
required Spectrum key
positions -Ready i

Support* roytick* wuh two

independent (tre action*;
Photon BJaste's and Nsulron
Bomb* at Ihe leuch of your
fingertip*

Extension pan 'or combined
use of peripherals.

£19.95

««■ VAT MFtl

Compatible with all Atari typo
jovslicKs including Quickahot
II Iwithout rapid f i re action)

Interface operates, joystick
parallel to keytMMfdi Joystick
action compatible with Any
add oris including
rmerodnues

Select key f u nctions Snyl irno >
even when the game is

already looted

t*e*

COMCONTWIN
JOYSTICK INTERFACE

£22.95

incl. VATarKlP&P

Two port version allows connection of two joysticks far
sequential two pUye-' flames using same key poj.itio.ns
Inon- independent^

OUtCKSHOT 2 ■ 2
JOYSTICK

modified to incorporate
2 ■na'Cpend*"! fire actions
and no rapid lira option

£13.95

incl.VATandPSiF

fLKSHTLINK HOTSHOT £10.50

JOYSTICK mtl VATandPftP

With two (ndtpsndent firB action*

Dealer Enquiries

Welcome: Phone CURRAH USPEECH UNIT £21.95

Ludld w (Q6A4) 4S94 fits bib CGMCON e«wit>on riot i ncl VAT and p&p

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM SELECTED RETAIL OUTLETS

Sand to.

CDCI 1X11 1 HocKeya Mill. Temeside.

Ludlow, Shropshire SYS IPC

Mr /Mrs. /Miss:

Address:

Postcode:

<*ty

Code

item Hem Prk*

Total £

01

Co moon Interface £1995

03

ComconTwin Interface £22.95

03

QuickshaT 2 * 2 Joystick £13 96

04

Flighllink Hotshot Joystick f 10.50

05

Currah LiSppec+i Unit £21 95

OS

Comcon with Quickshot 2 2 £31 M

07

Comcon with Hotshot £28.45

1 endow a cheque/postal order mads payable to Frel Ltd. for:

£

ZX SPECTRUM

PRINTER INTERFACE

"One of the too** wniprehensiwe printer interfaces

available for Ihe Spedtwn. With a choke of both

Centronics and RS232 in 1fi# or* interface; It witi

satisfy most" (SINCLAIR USER MAGAZINE).

"A remarkable device which pocki considerable

ingenuity into O small box. Should be Almost

irTHsistable." (COMPUTING TODAY)

"I will keep looking for the perfect interface but in the

megrttime I'll u» the next besl tning -IXLprint III." (ZX COMPUTING}

ZXLprint III interface enables your Spectrum computer (Trior 48K) to
print on □ I most any dot mqtrix or daisy wheel printer w ith RS232 or
Cenlronics input. Jusl plug in ZXLprint HI and LPRINT and LLIST
commands will work. COPY works without any software on Epson, Star
Delta, Brother HR5 & 1 009, Gem i ni, Walters WMBQ, Mannesman MTJ3Q,
KagaTbxon, Cannon, Shinwa, Seikosha 100, 250 & 500. Plus Seikosha
GP7Q0 in FULL COLOUR Alio available is optional COPY in 4 colours
on CGP1 1 5 r MCP40 & 80 ond SCP80.

No additional software needed - RAM is free to fake Tasword 2,
Masterf tie, OCP +00 software, Kemp Business Accounts etc.

i WORD PROCESSING • PLUG IN FOR LLIST LPRINT & COPY

♦ PRINTS SPECTRUM GRAPHICS & UDG's •HIGH RESOLUTION

SCREEN DUMPS »TWO COPY SIZES ON EPSON & COMPATIBLES

' PRINTS PRESTEL FRAMES WITH SUITABLE MODEM
i COMWIBLE WITH MICRODRIVES & INTERFACE 1

mliJ^ii^lJLju

.TRADE SALES:Jp6842292448 _

AVAILABLE FROM TRANSFORM LTD,

24 WEST OAK, BECKENHAM, KENT. BR3 2EZ TEL 01-658 6350

From: Name

| Address .

I

I

This order is for:
| ZXLprint III at £34,95
RS 232 Coble at C9 95

Tasword 2 a I CI 3.90

(Qty)

[Qfy

I

I Cheques/PO payable to
I TRANSFORM LTD

Please specify make of your printer

Centronics Cable at £9.95
4 Colour Option at £5.00

Amount enclosed

2X Spectrum (5. a registered trade mark of Sinclair Research Ltd

01-658 6350

74

SINCLAIR USER August IW

Books

All aboard for Mars

EVERYONE with a QL
dreams of doing something
useful with it but if you
cannot, then you can always
pretend you are doing some-
thing useful. That is a fairly
accurate description of what
Patrick J Hall is doing in
The Real Thing? Micro-
computer Simulations cm the
Sinclair QL.

The book is packed with
practical simulation prog-
rams which take those who
are willing to type them in,
into the heart of the human
circulatory system a into a
gas turbine and on a trip to
Mars.

The simulations are split
into three categories which
deal with processes, the
evolution of natural forces
and the planning of human
endeavours. The programs
use the full graphics and
numeric capabilities of the
QL, They can be used just

for fun or for getting ideas
for your own simulations.

The programs also have a
more practical educational
use. For instance, the gas
turbine, steller evolutiun
and design of a reservoir
could be used in school or
college classes. Who knows,
the town planning simula-
tion could even be used by
councils.

The descriptions of the

programs, which are split up
into SuperBasic procedures
for easy reference and
understanding, together
with explanations of techni-
ques, makes fascinating
reading.

There is probably more in
Hall's book about program-
ming the QL than in most of
the other books on Super-
Basic put together. Hall not
only knows his subject but
has the rare knack of leading
you at a steady pace through
complex programming tech-
niques without talking down
to you,

While educationalists
should jump at the chance to
get hold of a copy, the home
user will also benefit from
Hall's wide experience on
theQL. JohnGitb&f

Tha Real Thing?
Publish sr Sigma
Price £7 95

Get less from your Epson printer

AS THE flyleaf of Susan
Currans book Gel more from
the Epson Printer points out,
for many microcomputer us-
ers a printer is a major
purchase. Unfortunately,
this work fails to live up to
the promise of its title.

The author cannot be
faulted on the decision to
concentrate on the Epson
range.

The book falls down in
that it fails to offer much
practical advice on just how
you may exploit the full
power of your printer. QL
owners will find some advice
on how dot matrix printers
may be used in conjunction
with the four Psion packages
bundled with the computer.
The details provided,
though, are in no more
depth than those to be found
in many other publications
dealing with the QL. There
is no information concern-
ing the Spectrum which may
be used in conjunction with

any of the printers from the
Epson range.

Perhaps the weakness of
the work is best illustrated
by the section on user de-
fined characters. While the
author shows how you may
go about defining an alter-
nate character set, in a more
understandable fashion than
the manual accompanying a
printer such as the FX80,
that is as far as she goes. It
could be expected that the

book would offer a few char-
acter sets of its own.

A disappointing book
which provides little in-
formation beyond that to be
found in the documentation
provided with the QL and
printers from the Epson
range, Gary Evans

Gat mora from the Epson
Printer

Publisher Covins
Prica £7 95 (paperback)

Books for
beginners

KELLY TEMPLE is pre-
senter of XYZ On Air for
Capital Radio, a programme
dedicated to computers. He
admits he is a beginner and
his book, Capital Radio's
Book of Computers and Sim-
ple Programming is aimed at
beginners and is non-
machine specific.

Twenty five pages are de-
voted to details of home
computers. The main bulk
concentrates on all the
familiar features of Basic.
There is nothing to recom-
mend the book to owners of
the Spectrum User Guide.

The Spectrum Data Log is
a workbook intended for
beginners, but tackles the
subject in a different way,
As captain of the Star ship
Questar the reader is led
through a series of exercises
covering the main com-
mands in Spectrum Basic.

You are encouraged to
write out the programs in
the workbook in the spaces
provided and design the
graphics on the squared
spaces provided , Spectrum
Data Log is an interesting
approach for young begin-
ners. Tkeo Wood

Capital Radio's Bnqk Of
Computers and Simple
Programming
Publisher Interface
Publications Price C3.95
Spectrum Data Lug
Publisher Collins
Price E2.QG

Learning the hard way

CHRISTOPHER Leigh's
book Starting Logo is based
on the program Spectrum
Graphics Logo also pub-
lished by Sigma at £17-95,

Spectrum Graphics

Logo is a graphic subset of
the language without the list
handling capabilities of
Sinclair Logo. It comes
with a keyboard overlay
which allows commands to

be ENTERed by the use of
single keys.

There is one glaring fault
which overrides any other
consideration. There is no
way you can SAVE Logo
procedures onto tape or mic-
rodrive. The only way to
obtain a record is by print-
ing them out on a printer.
All very well for owners who
have one, though it is frus-

trating to work on programs
and have to type them in
later for revision.

For that reason both pack-
ages are not worth purchasing.
The t> Wood

Starting Logo

Price ES.95

Spectrum Log a Graphics

Publisher Sigma Press

Price £1 7 95 Memory <*8K

SINCLAIR USER August I98S

75

CAMEL PRODUCTS

1

^^^^

■

1

v ^aata sm

]

aaaaaHaHB__.ataal

NEW POLYPRINT FOR SPECTRUM

. . . Trie Iftlaftaw winch likes to say . . . Ja
and Qui and Si and of course- VES 1 A
Spectrum Centronics interlace with muh>
Ursoual diars fi EPROM, as in EPSON,
FX&O pnnter. Printer driver also in
EPROM Use* notes snort how Id use
EPROM lor UTILS Of Sown loadable
chart.

POLYPRINT tan silicon CMy E44.S5

PHINT-SP f or SpGCl m m

Lowccal Centronics IF with CABLE Scirtwar e on laps £31.25

EPROM PROGRAMMERS

BB-PROM for the BBC

With fesl programming ZIF socket, Vpp generator 8 suTtwaife in SWTt Fc*
276*'t29EPHOW3 CUM

Q-PROM for the QL

A powerful programmer with Fast ar»d Smart pTjgrarnmmg software <n Irrmware.
For 276+128- S A' type*i utabli In ROM carlrsdfl* for you own utilities ale.
CHECK. HEAD CHC . BLOW fi VE HIFY, past or all EPROM E6S.9S

Q-C A RT ROM reader for QL

Ta*e5 2764or2712H C5.9S

S| PROM-64 for Commodore C-64

Fast programming. 2aF socket, Vpp generator, software on [ape Far 2764 i2&
EPROMs. Full (unctions inc. CRC E34.75

64-CARTFDT2K64KEPF(Oiyto1^meCMninM>dOr»fH E5.9S

BLOPROM-SP

A uniquely
sophisticated

EPROM
PROGRAMMER

Epror-i programmer lor 1He 2516V32V
S*5*wX'l »'1 2SA CHECK
HEAD PHOGRAM £ VERIFY all Of
pari Q« EPFlOto

So immensely use* Inerdly you'll
hardly need the manual Designed
lor the begnnw but includes a single
Key «*> roule tor He orotessionai
Supplied as ftrmwaia. Ihe nv'c driver
routine alone is wtalri more 1hart (h*
pries or BLOPHOM-SP Ho Person-
ality Cards, or other additions just a
Spectrum.. Several anbuiit sai&iy
lealures Ortioard Vpp generation
28 pin ZIF Socket Cabled connector
emender piug ABS case tif&.&S

sm,t »e en {rsrru -hi.

KWJtiTw*! -JJiJi

Pl»i'l ; - iCDfl Wt

fH»! r mm - Hit

J0*tE»S'H - DH

r*5l CltCK

WHICH T13S m)YllU*«l- r-ll EC
WJ CnFC< i««r reccm iFiIKm
■ I «*? "4 i.wUMs fit ItnOM ihl-U

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MM
j: 'diRmrKtiEMOUDtuisrm siw

M ik ua

oiocuf noni'iir

FBI JDES'tttlMlr

d i* pqp. wit?

AT LAST!

For the Spectrum user. Put you
programs, utilities, Assembtsfs irv»

to EPROMs lor inslanl load tram
tha un*que HOM-SP

{•*«^r »iw*rwi»n It Or W» * f**<ar fff* Kir

ROM-SP for Spectrum

Ingenious unit tar Spectrum, with 2x23 pin sockets and a Flesal button allows
up 10 16K oi Basic or W/C program to RUN or LOAD instantly Irom EPROMs
Cabled connector and lull extender card. MOTE. Does not disable Sinclair
POM E29.95

PRO M ER- S P for Spectrum

An economical Sp«*um programmer for 376*128 Zero msenion force soc**i
* software an tape E29.9&

PROMER fl 1 -S

The very oopular ZX81 Or 6flrartini*r for 1 761 '32 EPflOMs IMS been adapted 10 £
rhe Spectrum and me price is kept low E24J96

DHOBI 1 UV ERASER

Compact. Main powered Sale . Fully cased . Up to 3 EPROMs E1 B-95

DHOBI 2 With automata: tnter E22.S5

Only with * Cantat Programmer A whlta *t«cK« mtt,

* YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT *

NEW 2764 or 27 12B E2.99«ett

CRAMIC-SP NEW for Spectrum

mojamous software paaefl isk fton-votatiie cmos ham to oo-eodM in the same

area as Spectrum ROM Easy storage and retrieval Of BASIC. M/C or DATA on &
toK Spectrum t«.35

NIKE POWER BUFFERS

NiCq battery back-Lip Irx Spectrum ZXBi/ATMOS E1 7.35

DREAM-81 1orZX81

64K Rampaok with linti options 10 disable 0-B-18K. Pius a 26 pin EPHOM SOCfcal
)ot2716 . S73B>S764Br¥J27iaB tSfl.flS

MEMIC^ei forZX81

4K CMOS HAM will litnium battery Easy SAVEing, 10yr storage and instant

retrieval (A programs £22.95

on* Mlltan Road UK. VAT artr*

CambftdaeCBltUY Pi P UK Free

Ho VAT on export*

TcH : (K!3| 3 14*1 4 Europe - 5%

Telex 41 67* CM L Ovtnmmt > 10%

O'LEVELS

not just revision but also tuition
for the Spectrum 48K

Mathematics

a pragjsmi T0T*t 15fltt

Fractions, i^uare nntt dKimti ■Dpmrttruiu hei*. hh
accuracy. Iltui. mwren raiurm nkii, lUnAnd i^m
mwfclta number let. P") charts liirogiinin nraunximi
•quatlHie, ban chant, m > ^ i, pnA^ittr jij^wm: «m
quadrDKa. matneei. yaeton tr*i i iiiim u u rul fflomsfy ntjo
mevy difreremlaHon imagraber latnyn. ■ngi«i

Physics

7 pragmmi TOTW. I46K

RatlfC** 1 -putalengtti md Ih*^j*n4 > . hOfiieSHi. lunim Ihe
n« and 4i d«i«t*. amarlov oc&out. rrnanwim. itnbn.
Omi \ami amps. wKi, w«i paraM. i**dnsr>e». haai, qid
l**i. nn»ngy hnrmt. ipKlfic t*it kkwHc anafffr half-hM,
ilcfnh: Elnchirs 'Jr»il«iri <X^O| m . Na*OT.'l htM

Biology

6 F-'llK|idl='ra TDTM. laOK

Piam and anmal oalli. oongac*. nh»nl»jx# leproOUCMin «1
mon aoaiuDl and iflKual 'trjodi^lian. fl(HM«nng pIvitA phsto*

rtiHiK aaniDii^. Innipirftlion. Ir«rvpb^t. f»Kl*rii rgrxt
sua. dwl akmBitKry owul -'•vtribari visnjhcri. ty«. flun.
rwrwsui ■synhan, Bcoayslpn. IdocI c^d«i. 'iingi HitrtwcinTi.
arhphbiflrrt. twrafa. nwimaJi. 'eipsriM

— et .- Data copsenw. eodn^. aunqs nnrmiurg n~— innfm «k

dQfnputer atlltlieS dnwr df aysdema pnvcv, Hcwtiy. mrdwini Mdniw

a*liwaifr. law and tagri ravai lan^nwpB». machinv cado.
7 programs 10 f/n. i *cn assembitis. imfo-aiH'i a n m pJ a ia. «n«ra ir, (imgrjin^vng. «u

«o aacugalng. rrn j e c ndt macnina frjamaiic"

Chemistry

S program TOTM. ISOK

Mattv iMh. Kticn oi h*K art) H a mn otr, weaon mrh w,
■vtv. acd> ami*, imooan*. ojtvgan. wkirtui, nauaan. pom-
phoriir carbon, h^dmaan. M i rnlaH , MuHna twi mtttli,
mam macpic. vgarw; r.h»mijiry Mrmn. lommtat. nwtar
mau. «jJ«tions. icrq. panoOc M*a. DOnOVig. a a ail. IMH

French

Regular and vragdv nor 'bHihiym,

paatlnl, atMnKv*, tonnil franxm,

and parvMi* MAM. Mgk ird Lorpuuid nun, n^piTii w

and fhur lerma. aov*rfr p^asoa m^iiiiitn mm iLcwuativHin

BonaweliDra, pnpoMona idnnn, mnhrpiaA

Electronics

a progrnnn TOTAL IS*

Energy and He bowo*. j»w*< dwnibuimr « m r r>d inn™
currant power, r.m a t-aluaa, itmifi nm m piriiku
capacitors, ima conatarai. t tau ea a r a, n anUarfnwi mnnti
mtewpnonaa, ir mlan I aliana. haaa and iow ansm <an

atofi, ngc «m*a. mattribraiai* rrHMrs, CRQ

Each subject ONLY £5.00 inc. p/p.
Available soon

— |. . | CcimpuHiliL^i Njrrahan da-kcriphian. diicuiLiryi. htti«rtn#ni.

tngilSll LetlOUage >:nri»m.|itin irp'minr. wnpriaiii unhnu rei»»1n*1ion.
pdra^racih pui^ualwn aquT^rt waamriaii Dl iAXTimii. rtmniv
4 H?0QfaniFj TOTAi I60K inlfHiic*. iuwnar.zir*)

German

i ixWBnis TOTN. lew

Strang, waak, ftfmarr and irmad mh iingujr and plural.
IndlcMva actr*a and ncaafoa u^fsean* mcvraima man.
kwa. ae c ua ath e and dattvw aiKiat. ncwni pn*™ii,
titai adVerba. Mniurteitoni praceaMlant. nurtibara
cjoenMy. Inmi. word fr dor

Economics

a fwrqmrns m 1*j SflOK

Pnct ifwei iwc»t. changaa m output amptoytp an j ana fomm.
ramnga and anpandnur*. knaneial irwHuasna, irwnaaonai
taOnp. popmatJen md its aeuctura, mant« torcaa, umty tna
damand. ere* fannatjcn. njuairh* lecaHen acala and hrm at
anlerprlt», mow) •cononty

LOGO, FORTH
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1 prDgram Each 10K

Taacnng wKnt of »i«a lanauaoct. inoudmo a iix Hun
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ana pnjwdad lor aaay tu*«n and 0*CuM>n4 AvataBlWy. Past-
now C now. Uhjb. tl»n, FgiBi won

Each language only £5-00 inc p/p.

GCE TUTORING

quality educational software
40 BRIMMER HILL, WIDMER END, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS MP15 6NP

Please send me :

My name and address :

My computer ha a:

I enclcae a cheque.'PO f*r £

MjmHi payable Id GCE Tutoring

SUB

76

SINCLAIR US 1-R August 1985

PROGRAM
PRINTOUT

GRAPHICS
INSTRUCTIONS

IN GENERAL, graphics abbreviations arc enclosed in bracken, which
should noi be entered . A siring of the Mime graphics character 15,
represented in the form (3*AJ which would be enicred as AAA, where
A is the graphics character, A space, where it is important to have the
correct number of spaces, is indicated by Csp), Spaces in text wilt not
normally be indicated. Where several graphics characters are Used, they
are separated by commas, which should not be entered- With Spectrum
and QL listings the letter ! has a flat lop and the numeral 1 has a sloping
top.

The above applies to all Sinclair machines, The following instruc-
tions are for specific machines -

ZX-S1: ZX-81 listings are generally reproduced as they appear when
you enter thciti, spaces and all Where extensive graphics arc used,
REM statements will be inserted to provide a guide to the position of
each character,

Spectrum: User-defined graphics are represented by underlined
letters, without brackets. Type the appropriate letter while in graphics
mode. The underline does not appear on the screen, Inverse characters
have the letter i before them, e.g. iZ, iA, LP. Block graphic characters
are indicated by g followed by the number of the appropriate key: g4
would mean the block graphics on key 4, ig4 the inverse of that graphic

Control codes are indicated by cc before the character , and are
obtained by pressing CAPS SHIFT whiie in extended mode. They do
not appear on the screen but may change the colour of the cursor and
will affect what is printed after them: cc3,i* would thus have the effect
of printing an inverse asterisk in red,

QL: User-defined graphics on the QL arc indicated by .1 de^Lription
of the keys pressed to obtain them, underlined and in brackets, ["hub
(CTRL + 9) means press CTRL and 9 together. The same applies for
unusual characters within the QL character set, which our printer is
unable to reproduce,

B

E YOUR OWN street-corner capitalist in
Shopkeeper by L N Langiey of Bury St
Edmunds, Suffolk. The game runs on a
48K Spectrum or Spectrum Plus, and sets you the
task of running a corner shop for a year. You must
choose from a large range of goods in stock, and
take weather and holidays into account. Those
factors can also affect your advertising strategies.
Experienced programmers should find it easy
to alter the parameters for various products if they
desire, and add extra random events and hazards
with ease.

IB PAPER h: KOftDER 2: INI Bl
kSH E): BRIGHT 3: OVER 0i THIERS
0: CI. 5
15 PRINT AT 0,11; INVERSE 1 ; " S

HOPLCETFEP"
?0 PRINT

1 ve
LO Set
I l .

Jle I

I . "

up
far

1 Van are a prospect
shopkeeper ■ You have
your shop and try to

a V^ar. Vou lose 14

hM'ti fupt or i* you t

than HI OB in -any wee

When answering
the Answer in

~H PRINT

ion typein
-s. "
40 PRINT " When ordering,,
m ' the itembv typing in the
r acter
left hand

| lid!

er the

OH WIS hi to

^B PRIHT

h»- weather

in to

q. Cer tain
cert a i n

rdlng to

a t\
low

Ml

I h a

indicated in the far
column. Then follow
i rwtruc 1 1 on » and ent
amount of the item y
order. M

• Remember to tale t
and the time of year
account when order in
thmtjIS sell Mel 1 itt

times. Others sell a

the weather . Sume da

n't sol 1 ' "

60 FRINT4*1;AT 1,10; "PRESS ANY

i i;v"

70 PAUS1

00 CLB : PRINT " Also remembe
r to tat fc! t. he tiraeuf the year- an
d the rteatlier intoaccount when c
hoosing your advertised pro

due '. ti - "

100 PRINT ^liAl 1,10! "PRESS ANY

I EY"

105 PAUSE 01 CLS

109 REM *#»#**wYaUR CASH+«###»*

110 PRINT "You have decided to
run a shop. You will operate it
for* one year and try to make a pr
Of it in a very tough business"

111 PAUSE 500

120 LET cash- 200+ INT !RND#B01
l :n PRINT "You have dug out a
your life aavings for this b

me venture. You have

1 ca'jl

i ' . PAUSE 400

140 IP crash -IBB THEN LET at=
du hd.d better worl: hard or el 5
.in will n.o banf.rupt iwl th SUch
ittle money"

150 IF cash '400 THEN LET a* =
his is a fair amount of money

»efc up your shop wi th"
160 IF cash>e00 THEN LET at-

ell done 1 You. must have saved-
ull to have this much money"

• pRirn **•■ '

171 PAUSE 250

| PRINT "Now is the time t
■j ^h ■_ 1 da whether you want

1 .'ii or not "

176 INPUT "Pq you want a loan
■ly/ru "ill

177 IF l*-*n'
TD 400

170 IF 1 1 "1
00 TO 176

17*7 REM «»»*#**-GET (.DAN********

ltJB PRINT "In your torn there a
re 2 bants, One is Barclay's. Th

# other is Lloyd's. Lloyd 'A CriJ

rges less interest on loini bu

t have a surcharge of £5iH on
evei y loan, fear 1. 1 ay s doe 5 not"

190 INPUT "Which bant would you

1 lit? to geta loan frcm"? lb/1

DP 1*="'N" THEN

OR lf="Y" THEN

>

b*

11

200 LET loan"1300+INT CRNDt 1UB1

LIS

J

1

210 LET inter est- £50+ INT <RND*1

10) J/1B

220 IF lif-"L" OR &*»"1" THEN G

"Y

TO 300

ev

2^0 IF u< :>"B" AND b* "li" THEN

1

60 TO 190

240 PRINT "You have decided to

"T

visit Barclay's ba'ii

t

241 PAUSE 200

250 LET payments^ INT CIp*n*(int

"W

ere st/ 100+1) /IZi

M

260 PRIN1 "The bant manager dst

ides to giveyau a loan of l " ; 1 oa

2*1 PAUSE 250

270 PRINT "The rate tH interest

a

ii "i interest i "%"

27 1 PAUSE 250

«>

2B0 PRINT "Every 4 weeks vpu wi

1 1 have to pay a repayment of £

B

'"; payments '

20 1 PAUSE 700

I"?B BO TD 390

ivnitnui'd on ptige 78

SrNCLAIRUSHR August 19&S

77

"".80 PRINT "¥au have decided to
Visit Lloyd's bank"'

301 FAUSE 250

310 1 ET i r>terest=i nt«mt -2
1213 LET paymont.4s«=lNT Cla*n*<lnt
t/ 100+1 y/izt

33e PRINT "To get a loan of » LI
pyd's bank you have to pay £50"

pause: 30B
"40 LET cash-cash -50

350 FfJlNT "Thi5 means yctu how li
ave £" (cash * '

351 PAUSE 250

360 FRINT "The Lloyd's bank man

sijer wishes you 1 La i_ h and loans y
PU £"i loan " '
"t.1 PAUSE 300

F F-INT "The rat* Of interest

" 1 F'flUSE 250

380 PRINT "Every 4 week'* /Ou mi
11 have to pay a repayment of £
"t payments ' '

381 PAUSE 400

3*?0 LET cash=cash+lo»n

400 PRINT "You now have a] 1 the
'■?y you will get to run your'

•hop. You have £"ic*ih" '

401 PAUSE 400

409 REM +**-**«■*## GET SHDP*»+-»*

410 PRINT »tt if possible to re

nt torn* premises or to buy a

shop yourself " ' '

411 PAUSE 350

420 INPUT "Do you want to rant
or buy? (r/b> »n»

430 LET a*="Shnp 1 is small and

is cheap to rent or buy, It 11
down a harrawminor road"

440 let b*»"Shop 2 is a vtry la
rgt store. Ithas a reasonable re
nt or price. It is down an old d
1 luied side str"»*t . "

450 LET tf="5hop 3 is a reasons
bly sired Store, It ha* a ver
y high rent or price. It is on
the corner of a crofiroads"

460 IF s* = "r" OR m#-="R" THEN 6
D TD 390

470 IF s*x""b" OR 5*="ET THEN
RD TD 420

4B0 PRINT "Which one of these s
1 tes do ynu wish to buy 1 ?"'

4a 1 PAUSE 250

490 LET #nINT (RND* 1 00+450 ) t PR
TNT at ' "'£"; a 1 '

4*»l PAUSE 750

500 LET b=INT (RND#210+530J r PR
INT b«-"£"sb ' '

501 PAUSE 750

510 LET c=INT <RND*400*700) : PR
INT c*" "£"( C

51 1 PAUSE 730

520 INPUT "Shop number? "js

530 IF * = I THEN LET cnh-cash-
ai PRINT "You have paid £"sa;
or the smallest ■hop' 1,

53 1 PAUSE 250

340 IF s-2 THEN LET cash=cash-
b: PRINT "You have paid £"jbl" t
or the larqe-jl shop"

541 PAUSE 250

550 IF s=3 THEN LET cash=cash-
CI PRINT "Yau have a well placet*

shop at apr i ere of £"|e''

5 Si F'AUSE 250

560 PRINT "After paying -for vdj
r Shop you have £":cash

561 PAUSE 250

57B PRINT "You are given the I •
yo to- your new shop and are pie
ased with i t '

571 PAUSE T0B

T-.B0 GU TO 690

5<?0 PRINT "Which One of these p
rem ie«a would you like to re
n> ~' i pr ices per week ) "

591 PAUSE 300

600 LET a=lNT <RND*4+10i: PR I N
T at "£"ia ' '

601 PAUSE 500

610 LET b"INT [RND*6+12)| PRINT
b« ""f ib '

611 PAUSE 300

620 LET c=INT IRND*B+I3>: PRINT
c* ' "C" ic ' '

i2l PAUSE 500

630 INPUT "Shop number? ■' t B

640 IF s=l THEN LET rent=ai PR
INT "You rent the smallest shop"

641 F'AUSE 250

650 IF s=2 THEN LET rent-b: PR
INT "You rent the largest store"

631 PAUSE 250

660 JF »»S THEN LET r«nt=c: PR

INT "YOu rent the well placed sh
op" '

661 PAUSE 250

670 PRINT "The amount of rent y
ou pay per week for your shop i
• £"irent '

671 PAUSE 250

6B0 F-RINT "After having been qi
v«n the keysto the shop and vlfii
ted it, yuu believe vOU have a b
argai n " "
681 PAUSE 500

6B9 REM #*«**BUY EQUIPMENT*****
690 LET tiUMNT <RND* 30+50)
" CI tl LEI shelves=JNT (.UN D* 20 + 40 )
710 LET counter=lNT <RND*3+20)

720 PRINT "You have to buy a ti

ii e £ " s 1 1 1 1

721 PAUSE 200

730 PRINT "You have to buy some
shelves @ f'latielves' 1
' ' 1 PAUSE 250

740 F'RINT "Ydu have to buy a co
urnter @ £"j counter'

741 PAUSE 250

750 LET tattv»t»sh-cojnter-shel v
es-t i 1 1

760 PRINT "After buying these t
hings you have Encash''

761 FAUSE 250

769- REM -»»-**»6ET INSURANCE*-****
770 LET insurance" (INT <RND*5-»-l
0) )*10
7B0 PRINT "An insurance company

sees that you are Betting up a

■hop and offer you insurance
against major theft and fire
, The cost IB £" i i nsurance' '

781 PAUSE 750

79B INPUT "Do you accept the of
fer" 5 (y/n> "ji#

B00 IF i*«"y" THEN LET CAsh=ca
Sh- insurance; 60 TO B.30

B10 IF | i ■■-, ' THEN GO TD B40

B20 GO TO 790

B30 PRINT "After paying for the
insurance you have E"jcash''
831 PAUSE 300

840 PRINT "You are now ready to
■tart running your Store"'

841 PAUSE 300
845 BORDER 1
B50 CLS

860 DIM £#(34, 10)

070 FOR f-1 TO 34

B80 READ ztt-f)

690 NEXT f
1000 DATA "alcohol ", "tobacco" , "
chocolate" , "ice creams" ."lollies

" , "sweets"

1010 DATA "beef ", "pork" , "lamb" , "
poultry" , "tin vetj" T "fresh veg " , "
fruits", "cereals" , "mi Ik". "bread"
, "biscui ts" , "Squash" , " lemonade"
1 020 DATA " wa shp owd er " , " M a sh 1 i qu
id", "soap" , "shampoo" , "tissues" , "

loo rol Is"

1030 DATA "newspaper s" , "pens " , "p

aper" , "cards" , "pi ants" , "toys" , "p
ol ish", "raincoats", "umbrellas"

1040 DIM £(34)

1050 DIM p(34)

1035 REM »t« ntwUHWW ISHt t W

1060 FOR f»l TO 34

1070 READ ptf); LET ja ( f J -p (f > / 10

1080 NEXT f

1090 DATA 79.41.17,22,10,3

1 1 00 DATA 1 29 , 99 , 1 32 , S9 . 2 1 , 27 . 1 3

,41,20,31,25,19,13

1110 DATA 100,36,29,39,22,9

1120 DATA 15,5,3,12,25,150,99,21

0. 126

1 1 30 CLS

1 140 FOR »■! TO 32

1158 PRINT TAB 10; INK 2 5 "WEEK "

:w

1160 IF w-lfi OR w -17 THEN FRINT

Easter is arriving within 2

weeks" ' '
1170 IF w>28 AND w< 37 THEN PRIN
T "It is the school holidays'" 1 '
US0 IF w<32 AND ™>46 THEN PRIN
T "Christmas is approaching fast

1 1 B5 PAUSE 250
1190 IF w<3 THEN
ery cold weath&r

PRINT "It l* v

and it is snot*

78

SINCLAIR USER August 19*5

fast

LET rain=li SO TO 1

i ng

240

1200 IF w>20 AND w<30 AND W<>2&

THEN PRINT "It II hot aticky W*

ather In your trail, it ie the heig

ht Of summer "' ' : 00 TD 1250

121(8 IF RNIK.2 THEN PRINT "What

a week, It is raining cats and
dogs and everywhere 1* f 1 OO

dad" ■"; LET r*ir>*ll GO TD 12S0
3 220 If RND>. 7 THEN PRINT "Thim

week is good fine «wthEr " ' ■ : G

Q TD 1250

1230 PRINT "Thia week 1* just an
ordinary week with averigi Br
l tish weather"
1240 LET rain=0

1245 REM #**»»#**#*#*•*»*#■*##*•*
1230 PAUSE MO

1251 FRINT "It is time -far you t
O fill this H»th ' fi order in- Just

type in theamount o-F each produ
ct that you require"'

1252 PAUSE 730
1233 cls

1260 LET y*-"Input the 1 at tar of

nay item youneed & then -follow
i nstructi ons '
1242 PRINT y*

1265 PRINT AT 3,9: INVERSE I } "CO
NFECTlONARv
1270 LET AAA=1
12 75 LET BBB=6
1260 GO SUB 5000
1205 CL5 s PRINT y*
12*0 PRINT AT 3, 1 1;
ROGER I E5"
1295 LET ***-7
1300 LET bbb=I9
1310 GO SUB 5000
1315 CLS 1 PRINT y*
1320 I RINt AT 5, 11 I
tllLETRIES"
1 523 LET AftA=20
L " W LET I-:
1 J35 OS SUE 5B0O
1740 CL5 ; PRINT Y*
1345 PRINT AT 3."?!
SCELLANIQU5"

,0 LET AAA
1355 LET BBB=:4

6 6D BUG 5000
1337 CLS

I "60 FRINT ""Your order IS now (l
n i shed" i SO TD 1350

1361 PAUSE 2SH

1370 CLS t PRINT
mofiefv in your

er any more goods
ve to rfo Wi thOl.it

■a that you

der " ■ '

1371 PAUSE 500
1375 REM *********
1300 PRINT "You ha

e your shop to do
dlttpl »v * Or" 2 of I

You are out of
account to Qrd

so you Wl 1 1 ha.
any hidt e thing
intended to or

ve room outsld
an advertising
nur products" '

INVERSE li"E

INVERSE 11 "T

INVERSE t;"MI

1301 PAUSE 350

1390 INPUT "1st advert! sad pradu

ct "* j*

1400 LET c*=" *

1410 LET J*-j*+c*< TD 10-LEN j*)

1420 FOR f = l TO 34

1430 IF j*=l*<f> THEN SO TO 146

a

1440 NEXT -f
14 '.10 GO TO 1S90

1460 INPUT "2nd advertised produ
ct "I.:*

1470 LET k*-**+C#l TD 10-LEN k*J
14B0 FDR f = l TO ."1

14*0 IF k#=z»(f) THEN GO TD 132
1500 NEXT *
1510 GO TO 1460
1520 BORDER 4i CLS

1525 REM **«**»*'####'#****-*»*-»** : *
PRINT " PI eaae wait while 1

worl- out hawmuch of each of VO'.i
r products were wold this weel

and how muehmoney y° IJ made frcni

thpi r sal o'-a "
1531 PAUSE 500
■1540 LET tal ings=0

1545 PRINT PAPER 2s EMK 7; , "ITE
ft PRICE ND.SDLD RECEIPTS"

1550 FDR f-1 TO 74
1560 IF f 7 THEN LET fel

LS70

-INT

1580

t-INT

1590 IF f >19 AND f-

t-INT <RND*24)

1600 IF f "-25 THEN

Ct IS)

t605 IF

D#20>

1610 IF

>INT IRND

'i l f . mND f ■ i 1 THEN LLl t
<RND«1B)

IF f >10 AND f<20 THEN LET
(RND#30t

26 THEN LET

LET t=INT !RN

f>32 THEN LET t"INT <RN

zCf>=0 THEN LET f=0t 6D

r

ijf OR ft(f ) =1 * THE

td : 733
1625 IF i*(+J =
N LET t = t*2

1630 IF t>B<f> THEN LET t=jCU
IF w = 16 OR w-17 THEN IF *<
f-29 THEN LET t = INT tt#2.i

1640

3 OR

>

16S0 IF w 20 AND *K37 THEN IF f

= 6 OR f = 19 Dft f=4 DR f=5 THEN L
ET t

1660 IF w 5 THEN IF

f"24 THEN

LET t=t»2

16/0 JT »>2fl AND w<30

AND N >26

THEN IF f=4 OR f = 5 OR f = 18 THEN

LET t = t*2

1600 IF f« 33 AND f 32

THEN LET

t=t*f3 AND rain'lixe

AND rain^i!

16*0 IF w<52 AND w 46

THEN IF t

= 1 UR f = 10 OR fM3 DR

f»29 OR f-

31 THEN LET t-t*3

I7O0 IF s=3 THEN LET t=t+10

17 10 IF ■■! THEN LET t-t*5

1715 LET t=t»3

1720 IF t>z(f! THEN LET t=lHI

1725 IF (f=23 OR f=Z2 DR f-=32 OR

f = l2 DR -f-.3B) AND RND-, .9 THEN
LET t=0
17Z7 IF (#■

w 44 THEN
1735 LET p=
100
1737
1739
5.

1740
1 -'jV-
P

A OR 4 =3 J AND w AND

LET t=0
ale=UNT <p44)«il3>l/

LET receipts=psal e*-t

LET tak l ngs=t ak l nqs+recel p t

LET z (f )-z l-f J-t
PRINT s*(f)|TAP lliOBAlaiTA
l*itsTAIii 24:receipts
11739 NEXT 4

1760 F'RINT '"Thia weel you toot
iE"l tak l ngs ' '
11761 PAUSE 200
1765 LET cash = cash + tal< ings
1770 PRINT "This means you now h
ave £" i cash
177 1 PAUSE 200

BORDER It CLE

REM +•#**#*•»*•»*#•»••»*---

IF taking*-' 100 THEN 60 TO

1772
1775
1790
6000

laao

PRINT

1825
1EI30
ISM

r en t

'You now tat-e out you

r wage! at £100" '

1010 LET cash=cash-100

IB20 PRINT "AH=tar taking out you

r wages yau have E";cash'

1821 PAUSE 200

REM ***-»**#*•#*-»••*••••*•**
IF a**"b" THEN 00 TO 1070
PRINT "You have to pay the
tor your premiaem for th

is. week which is £"jrent"

1B41 PAUSE 350

1050 LET Ci*h"Cl*ri-rent

1B55 IF cash<0 THEN GO TD 3040

1960 PRINT "After paying your re

nt you have C";cash'

1B61 PAUSE 200

1063 REM +##*#»*»•••»»*»»••#•*»»

IB70 IF l*="n" THEN GO TO 1930

1090 IF w/4-INT <w/4) THEN GO T

1900

1B90 GO TO 1930

1900 PRINT "It is the end of th«
month and you must pay a repay

ment of your loan of C"i payments '■

1901 PAUSE 20O

1910 LET c*»h"c*ah -payments

1920 PRINT "After paying the 1 Da
n repayment you have £"|C*»h''

1921 PAUSE 200
REP1 ***#■*#**»<##**■***•■••■••
IF RND-',2 THEN GD TD 2610
LET disaster* I NT <RND*6)
IF dl»e»ter«5 THEN GD TO 2

1925

1930

1940

1950

490

1960

410

1970

570

i rat

240
1990

100
1995

2000

IF disaster-4 THEN 00 TO 2

IF disaster=3 THEN GO TO 2

IF disaster=2 TkCN GD TO

IF d>saster=l THEN GO TD 2

REM *<
FRINT

"A crafty sale* repra

sent^tive brings sow children
s toys into your shop. Ha May* V
ou can buy them for 50p each an

SINCLAIR USER Au^at I9S5

cannmud m page 80

ctmlmued front pilgt! 79

d sell them at «n enamaul pro-fi

t of £1,50" " ■

3010 INPUT "Do you buy amy Cy/n)

"id*
2020 IF d*="n" THEN PRINT "You
ri^use hi* off mr* " " I PAUSE 150i
EG TO 2950

2030 IF d*<>"v" THEN GO TO 201

l;040 INPUT "How many do you want

to : nu

I05O PRINT "Von bu-, "itiui." of th
e p ftp ' s toys* '
ZtJSI PAUSE 150

2060 FRINT "All of the toy* turn
1 □ be dangerous so you can
not poi*iblv*t>] 1 them. Ynu lose

1-061 PAUSE 400

2070 LET cj5h=Lii5h-.5»nu

20B0 PRINT "A* a result of your

fi act younon have only £"1C*S
h " "

2091 fa use zee

2090 DO TO 2930

S REM *»#****-»■»#*#*♦»##*-♦»**«#

2100 PRINT "A firm rages avernig
ht in ,'ULir- store. The firemen B
ivi the building but all of
ynur good*^ dire 1 ost " '

2101 PAUSE 500

rue if i«-"n" then gd td 2200

2120 IF i*="y" THEN PRINT ''You
were a wise person in taV. i nut he

insurance man's offer"'

2121 pause 200
21 30 LET eaver-O

2 1 40 FOR f = 1 TD 34

2150 LET cav*r-caver+r (f !*p <f 1

2160 NEXT f

21 'o dim i(34J

2180 PRINT "The insurance firm p
ay* for all the damage*. You qet
£'';covtr - 'l LET cash=cash+cover
2185 PAUSE 200
2190 GO TO 2950

2200 PRINT "Ynu had no insurance
cover and so you lost all your
qgod* and get no campensati on"

2201 PAUSE 100

2220 DIM Z (34*

2230 GO TD 2950

2235 REM -##****-»»*-»#**#«*-***»#*»

22*0 PRINT "During the night a b

unch a* organised criminals

steal all ofyoLir ujuodv

2241 PAUSE 300

2250 IF i# = "'n" THEN SO TD 27-40

2260 PRINT *Vou were a clever pe
rson to invest in some insur

-J it. e C OVU'"

2261 PAUSE 700
.■'2 70 LET cover =0
22S0 FOR f-=I TO 34

2290 LET c over =C overt-; (f j # p <| .
2700 NEXT f
2310 DIM B<341

CI PRINT "The insurance ■firm p
ays for all your lg«Hi. You get
£ " | COVf r ' '; LET cash=cash+cover
27 2 1 PAUSE 250

. IB

60 TO

2950

2740

F R 1 N T

"You

had

no insurance

cover and

get

no c

ompensati on"

PAUSE

200

2350

D1P1 £

2160

GO TO

2950

2365

REM m

2170

PRINT

"Some

chi

Idren

i ■ 1 ■ <

fancy tn

your

■KM

etm and stea

1 the lot"

2171

PAUSE

200

2380

PRINT

"You

Ion

■-.HPF'T

s. wort

h C"

p(6)*z <6J

2381

PAUSE

150

ZZ 90

LET z

<6)-B

2400

GO TO

2950

2405

REM »#IIHIIIII»»IIHtH»»n»

2410

PRINT

" Ah 1 ma 1 rights

pr cites

ters

poison all

your

meat

l n you

r shop "

2411

PAUSE

250

2420

LET 1 DISH 1

FDR f

=7 TD

10

1 4 40

LET 1 os*e»"

'lOHlS+plf >*Z (f )

2450

LET z

if ) =0

2460

NEXT 4

2470 PRINT "
E B | loifit

2471 FAUSE 1
2400 SO TO 2
24B5 REN *-»*
2490 PRINT "
at al 1 your
ated food

PAUSE
LET Ln
f =7
los
2530 LET s (f
2540 NEXT f
2550 LET los
+ z (5)*p (5>+Z
2560 LET z i 1
2570 LET : (4
2580 LET z (5
2590 PRINT
□st where

a result yau lose

50

930

2491

: aili

2510 FOR
2S20 LET

A poutr cut mean* th

frozen and refridger
goes bad"

00

TG 10

SeS= 1 OS5E5+C ( f I *Z ( f }

>-H

s e s= 1 dss e s + z < 4 > *p ( 4 )

U2>*p(12)
2)=0

'

>=0

The goods that you 1

valued at £"i losses'

2591 PAUSE 200

2600 G8 TD 2950

2605 REM ** « • ■ -» mum ## -»••« *#**-#■# *

2610 IF RND>. 1 THEN QD TO 2950

2620 LET IuCky=lNT <RND+6)

2630 IF lucl-:y=5 THEN GO TO 2710

2640 IF lUCky-4 THEN GO TO 2740

2650 IF luel-:y=3 THEN GO TO 2770
2660 IF lucky=2 THEN GO TO 2010
2670 IF Lucky*! THEN GO TO 2SO0
2675 REM #**•#■»#*#»»*#*»#**■»*«■***
2690 PRINT "Well done I You have
wan an award* or running the tidi
e«t shop In your area. You get a

prize of £100" '

2651 PAUSE 350

2690 LET cash=cash+100

2700 GO TO 2950

2705 REM *■»**•******»»»** »•"-•- ' ■

2710 PRINT "0n» day this week a
nearby rival shop closed down bo
you had a £S0 boost in sales"'

271 1 PAUSE 300

2720 LET eash"C*sh+50

2730 GD TD 2950

2735 REM -»***»#+#**###**#■****"#**-**»

2740 PRINT "Lucky you has won £7
5 pn the football pools"'

2741 PAUSE 150

2750 LET cash=cash+75
276*1 GO TO 2950

2770 LET cheque=(INT <RNDftlS>)*l

2780 PRINT "You find a cheque fo
r £"s cheque ' "
27B1 PAUSE 150
2790 LET cash™ca»h+cheque
2000 00 TO 2950

2905 REN *■»**-»**♦-»»»*«•####*#»#*
2810 PRINT "A customer complains
that one of your products that ■
he bought isfaulty. Do you give
her a new- one or not (y/n)"'
2020 INPUT "(y/n) " j n*
2B30 IF n*="n" THEN 00 TO 2070

2S40 IF n*<

2850 PRINT

being the
er about a

>"y" THEN BO TO 2020
'You win a prize for

most polite shopkeep

You get £90" ' "

2B51 PAUSE SCO

2060 LET c*sh=c*sh+90

2070 ED TD 2950

2S75 REfl ##**##*»#*-t*»*****»»**»

2090 PRINT "A polite represent at

i ve comes into your Bhop and a

fferi you a new product. Do you

buy any. Thee Cist i« 20p"

2BB1 PAUSE 500

2090 INPUT "How many do you H«nt

" ; r>«
290O IF nx»0 THEN GD TO 2950

2910 PRINT "You buy "jllKj" of th
em at 20p "' '

291 1 PAUSE 100

2920 LET cash=cash-.2#nK

2930 PRINT "The product sells li
ke anything and makes ydu a prof
it of "inK*.3

2931 PAUSE 250

2940 LET cash=cash+nif #.5
295» CLB

2955 REM ***#■»#*■"( »» »*«»■***-#*'»'**■•
29tB PRINT "This is the end of t
he week "in' '

294 1 PAUSE 1 00

2970 PRINT "At the end of Lhl* w

*ciu haveT'" ; i_ a^h
2971 PAUSE

2980 rxs

I ' I cMh 1 '.INT IcashMP'.'
00

29B7 tf cash THEN GO TO '■
2990 NEKT w
'."LK-. I iv I Ml "h*. the end of the ye

ar you have made a profit o* L":

Lash

3001 PAUSE 200

3010 print "Well done for »r

out at thered"
3020 STDP

3040 CLi : F-'F'iriT "Because VOU ow
e money you *r* f breed to Ltqu
i date your bu*ine*S after

week ■ : m
3050 LET till=INT IRNDMiLJ'
30t.0 LET counter » INT <RNp*counte
r>

3070 LET shelves=INT (RNP*shelve
s>

1080 LET gt="You sell your "

30FJ5 PRINT g*, "tiH at £ " i t

3090 PRINT g*:"counter at £"jcqu

nt«r

7100 PRINT q*i "Shelve* at £";she

1 . B«

3105 PRINT '

3107 LET cash=cash + shel ves + tll 1*

counter

3110 PRINT "You now have a loc*
of £"( ABS cash

7-120 IF ^* = "buy" THEN LET ca*h»
■ I rfl+INT !RND*500) : GO TO 3140
3125 GO TD 3t70

3130 PRINT "fitter selling your ■
hop ynu h^ <sh "
'.'140 It e&*h<0 THEN PRINT "Vou
still have a 1 amis And so I sugg
est vdu take a long rest befc
I'yiriO to pav off your debt
■ H **l STOP

3150 F'RINT "Yau now have some ca
sh but the fai^ demands that ya
u give it tothem to pay off your

1 oan" "

■I '.u STOP : GD TD 3140
3170 PRINT "Vou have lost e,
hlng. and rtOwyoU *ru Out on the ■
tl *et* m ttiaut a penny

our pockets" '
3999 STOP

5000 PRINT INVERSE 1; IM I | AT
5,2s "ITEM'S AT 5,11 i INK 2s "3TQE>
"tA'f 5,17l INK 01 "NO. "SAT 5,21;
INK 3; "PRICE"; AT 5 , 27 i INI- 1 j "CO
ST£"

5010 FOR F=AAA TO BBB
5020 PRINT AT f +7-aaa , 0; CHR* <f+
64 ) : : r ( f J |" " ( z t f >

5030 NE*T f
5040 INPUT "Select wlhat you need

and press the (<By or ^0~ to qu
it ";v*

5053 IF v*»"0" THEN RETURN
5060 LET v=(CD0E vf!-64
5045 IF-" v saa Oft v -bbft THEN 00
TO 5040

5070 PRINT AT v+7-aaa ,2 1 ; p ( v)
5080 INPUT ("Hon fflany "jK*(v}f a
do you wish" '"to order " > { aiPOUn
t

50B2 IF amount' THEN 00 TD 500

5BB5 IF 500-z <v> -amount ; I THEN
PRINT4^1| "You have not enough ro

om on the shelves for that amoun

t"i PAUSE 200* GO TO S0FJ0

5090 PRINT AT v+7-aaa , 1 7t amount :

AT v+7-aaa , 13; amount+E ( v)

5100 LET cost =p ( v) » amount

3110 IF cost -cash THEN GO TD 13

70

5120 PR TNT AT v*7-aa#,2A( cost

5130 LET cash=cash-co»t

5135 LET z (v)=z (v)+amount.

5140 PRINTS I; "You have £"ica*ht

" cash left"

3150 PAUSE 100

5160 GD TD 5040

6000 PRINT "You cannot precede t

o run your shop because you hay

e not made enough money this we

el to pay your own wages. Con*

eguently youhave died of hunger

as you coli Id not buy your own foo
d"

m

SINCLAIR USER August 19SS

INITIALISATION
'a" >-8b REM If
machine code
'USR "a'^by the
theflitsee also

"a": LET line-0
rotated; LET d

10 REM ROUTINE
20 CLEAR (USR '
your program has
routines replace
start address of
line 50)

30 REM Insert any machine code
loads here
50 LET top^USR
: LET col=0: LET
*="1 M : LET z*=""

100 REM Your program starts
here and replaces lines 110-190
110 LET line=3: LET col =3; LET
zS="Multi"s GO SUB 9000

120 LET line=3: LET cnl=9t LET
z *="Di recti anal " : LET rotate=90i
LET d*="d": GO SUB 9000
130 LET line=13; LET col=7: LET
2*="Print M i LET rotate=lB0: LET
dS="l": GO SUB 9000
140 LET line=13i LET col-1: LET
z*="Sc Rotation": LET rotate-270
: LET dS="u 1 ' : BO SUB 9000

150 LET line=7: LET col-5: LET
z*-"*"; LET rotate=0: LET d*='*r"
: GO SUB 9000

160 LET line=8: LET col=6s LET
*#»"t"« LET ratate=90: GO SUB 90

00

170 LET line=9: LET col =5* LET
z#="f"i LET rotate=ta0: GO SUB 9

000

1S0 LET line=8: LET col =4: LET
z*=" ]"i LET rotate=270: GO SUB 9
000

1V0 STOP
B999 REM This is the last line
your program can use
9000 REM PRINT ROUTINE
9010 IF line<0 OR line>2l OR lin
eOlNT line THEN LET line=0
9020 IF COl<0 OR col >3l OR COl<>
INT col THEN LET col =0
9030 IF rotate<>90 AND rotateOl
80 AND ratate<>270 THEN LET rot
ate=B

FOR a=l TO B

POKE top-a,PEEK (USR "a M +(a

9040

9050
-1) )
9060
9070
90B0

THEN
R* 144
9090 PRINT
9100 IF d#
TO 9140

9110 IF line=2i*(d*="r
=31#<d#="r M ) THEN LET

NEXT a

FOR Z=l TO LEN I*

IF rotateOO AND z#<zK>" "
GO SUB 9210: LET z*lz)=CH

AT

line, col ; z* <z)
OR d*="d" THEN

G

) AND col

line=21*(

d*="l"'): LET col=31*(d*="l M ) t GO

TO 9160
9120 IF eol=31*<d*-"r w > THEN LE
T line=line+l-2#(d*="l M ) : LET co
1=31* <d*="l ") : GO TO 9160
9130 LET col=cQl+l-2#(d*= ,, l■ , ): G

D TO 9160

9140 IF Xine=21*(d*="d"> THEN L
ET line=21* (d*="u" ) : GO TD 9160
9150 LET line=line+l-2#(d*=* , u") :

GO TO 9160
9160 NEXT Z

9170 FOR a=l TO B: POKE (UBR "a"
+(a-l)) t PEEK (top-a)s NEXT a
9180 RETURN .

=g Program Printout

<?>

# -%

w

THIS UTILITY by Dave Trebilcock of Sale in
Cheshire for any Spectrum allows strings to be
printed in any direction on the screen. Charac-
ters stored in the Spectrum ROM or the user -defined
character area can be stated in this fashion.

The following variables must be set up before the
routine can be used:

Line and col used to hold start position of printing.
rotate degree of character rotation C90\ 180,

270).
d$ direction of printing: r= right and left;

d=down; u=up
i$ string to be printed.

Lines 100-190 contain a demonstration. The utility
can be added to any Basic program and starts at line
9000. It is set up using ihe variables shown above.

9200 REM ROTATE

9210 DIM a<8 f B>

9220 PRINT #1; PAPER INT (PEEK 2

3624/8); INK INT (PEEK 23624/8);

AT l,3I;z*(z)

9230 FDR a=0 TO 7

9240 LET s=12B: LET cnt=PEEK (22

527-256*a)

9250 FOR b=l TO 8

9260 IF rotate=270 THEN IF cnt>

s-1 THEN LET a<b,0-al-i: LET en

t=rnt-5

9270 IF ratate=l60 THEN IF cnt>

s-1 THEN LET a (B-a,9-b > =1 : LET

cnt=cnt-s

9280 IF rotate=90 THEN IF cnt>5

-1 THEN LET a (9-b f a+l ) =1 : LET c

nt=cnt-s

9290 LET s-s/2

9300 NEXT b: NEXT a

9310 FOR a=0 TO 7; LET tot-0: LE

T 5=120: FOR b=l TO B

9320 LET tot=tot + 5*(a(a+l ,bK>0)

9330 LET s-s/2

9340 NEXT b: POKE USR "a^^-a),

tot; NEXT a

9350 RETURN

SINCLAIR USER August 198$

SI

2B POKE 236,0"?, 10: FDKE 2365G , B
: GO SUB <?0«0: GD SUB 9900: GO S
UB 20001 GO TO 25

21 BO SUB B900: GD BUB 2000

23 FAPER Si ELS l POKE 23624,8
: BORDER 1

40 SO SUB 6000; GO SUB 6050
1000 LET Kt*Xl LET ¥1=¥
1010 PRINT AT Yl ,3(1* " (2*spt H |AT
Yl*l,Xt"<Z*»p> "

1021 IF IN 3276A=190 THEN QO BU
B 3000

1022 LET X=X+iIN 57342= 1 90J - Ct N
57342=1691: LET Y=Y*([N 65022-19
0h - < IN 64510=190>

1023 IF PU=1 THEN GO SUB 1510

1025 LET Y-Y+<Y<1>-<Y>16>

1026 LET X = X- (X>30)+ ( X<0)

1027 LET 1-USR 60000

1029 IF ATTR I ¥ , X ) <>4B OR ATTR i
Y+I,X)<>40 OR ATTR IY T X41X?40 O
ft ATTR <Y + UX + 1><>40 THEN GD SU
B 7000

1030 PRINT AT Y.Xt* jiR H [ftT Y+1,X(

" £■ T "

1031 IF TI=1 THEN BO TO 5000

1032 IF TK10O THEN PRINT AT 21
,16; PAPER 7; H (sp>'": IF TK10 TH
EN PRINT AT 21 , 15| PAPER 7t " <*p

) "

1035 IF Pg=l THEN GU SUB 1500

1040 LET TI=TI-1; PRINT AT 21,14

t PAPER 7lTI

1090 GO TO 1000

1500 PRINT AT V+E.Xt "t L - 'tAT Y+3,

1505 RETURN

1510 PRINT AT Yl+2,Klf PAPER 5t "

(spJ';AT Yl+3,Xi; " (s.p}"

1520 RETURN

2000 PAPER 0: CLS 5 INK 7i POKE

23i24,15: CLB : BDRDfcH 1

2010 PRINT AT 0,12| BRIGHT 1("IS

OTOPE"

2020 PRINT AT 2,0; INK 6; " In thi

s game you ttha mini sub) must r

fKUf c*nisters -full of Ridioa

CtlVB 150topB5.PlCk UP tfl*C*ni«t

wrt from amqnqst the weed and ta

ke them tn ydur ship above"
2030 PRINT AT 7,0; INK 4;"Vou mu
5t campletB this fcMk in a Ctf t
in time or the Isotopes mill b
en ante tao djngerouE."
2035 PRINT AT 10,0; INK 3i "Unf or
tunately the Isotopes are place
d in Blue Octopu* infested water -
s and y&u mu«t avoid them' 1

2040 PRINT AT 1 9 , 3 ; " Q=up ; A=do*n ;
Q=lBft)P=riqhfj AT 1 B , 7 ; " SPflCE=p
I etc up /drop"

2041 PRINT AT 14,12;; INK *H"JJ15
•■p) H l INK 2; "> H4*tp)''| INK 7 t "
(3»SpJ &£*_"

2042 PRINT AT 15,12; INK 4; "^M5»
■p)"i INK 2l "MNC4#mp> "i INK 7l" <
3*gp) 5T "

2043 PRINT AT 1 6 ,01 " !»p> OCTOPUS <
3#sp ) WEED (3*5p)CAN<5«sp>5UB"
204"? LET IN-B

2030 PRINT AT 21*0; " <5*sp i PRESS
KEY IS) TO PLAY"

2051 PRINT AT 14,3; INK 5t ".EF " ;A
T 15,3; " GU*

2052 PRINT AT 0, 12( INK lNt N ISQT
OPE": LET IN=IN+1: IF IN=B THEN

LET IN=0

2053 PAUSE 6

2054 IF INKEY*-"S" THEN BO TO 2
090

2056 PRINT AT 14,3; INK 5; " a B_ " ;fl

T 15,31 -CO"

ZB57 PAUSE hi SO TO 2051

2090 PAPER 5 l CLS l BORDER ll IN

i 0: RETURN

IF ¥-16 THEN GO TO 3010

IF Y=l THEN GO TD 3100

IF V<>16 OR VOl THEN RETU

DANGEROUS radioactive material lies buried in
the weeds at the bottom of the ocean. The sub is
ready and waiting. Bring the canisters up to the
ship before the time runs out - hut beware the blue
octopi. Their tentacled touch is deadly. Isotopes runs on
the 48 K Spectrum,

The program uses our special abbreviations for graphics
characters, so please read the instructions an the first page of
Program Printout before entering the listing.

'-cva&xxwi.

3000

3001

30'02
RN

'010

IF ATTR <Y+Z,XK>42 OR ATTR

<Y+2,X+1)<>42 THEN BD TP 3190
3020 LET PU-=1: POKE 60230, INT (R
ND*faH-16: FOR n-10 TO 150 STEP 1
0t POKE 60220, lit LET 1 =USR 60227
t NEXT ni PRINT AT Y+2, X; " (2#sp>
"[AT V+3,X) ■' (2»sp) ": BORDER I
3030 RETURN

3100 IF X<10 OR 1O20 DR PU-0 THE
N RETURN

3110 PRINT AT Yl+2,Xl;"(2»mp)"lA
T ¥l+3,Xl|"<2*»p) ■
3115 POKE 60230, INT <RND#6)+16l
FOR n=150 TO IB STEP -IB: POKE 6
0228, n: LET 1 =U5R 60227: NEXT ni

BORDER 1
3120 LET PU-0 l LET SC-5O100: PR
INT AT 21,26; PAPER 7|iSC( PAPER
5* LET CAN-CAN* 1: LET PUF-FT-CAN
t IF CAN=FT+1 THEN GO TO 4000
3170 RETURN
4000 REM DONE

4010 CLB ; PRINT AT B, 11 J "NELL D
ONE* "| AT 10,3i M ¥OU HAVE RECDVERE
D ALL THE RADIO-ACTIVE IS

O TOPES. "

4020 PRINT AT 14, 7[ INK 1 1 " YOUR

TIKE WAS ";TI

4035 PRINT AT 16,11) INK 2) FLA5

H 1; "BONUS "' jTI: LET SC=SC+TI

4030 FOR n-9 TO 90t POKE 601Bl,n

■ LET 1-USR 60179: NEXT n

4040 PRINT W|" PRESS A KEY TD »

DVE ON TO NEXT RECOVERY

SITE"
4045 BORDER 1* PAUSE
4050 LET CAN-Bi LET FT-FT+l t LET

FUF=FT: LET PC-PC-3( IF FT-9 TH
EN LET FT-9

4053 IF PC<1 THBN LET PC- 1
4060 CLS » LET Y-ll LET T I -200+5
0#FTl LET Z=Z+1: GO SUB 8900 1 LE
T X=15: GO TD 30

5000 CLS : PRINT AT 10,7; FLASH
If INK 2l*YDU ARE OUT OF TIME"
5010 PRINT AT 12,4; "THE RADIO-AC
TTVE ISOTOPES HAVE REACHED

A DANGEROUSLY HIGH

LEVEL" ■■- MISSION ABANDONE

D "
5015 FOR n-130 TO 9 STEP -li PQK

82

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

iSiWlS

LET CAN-Bl
LET F'UF=FT

PQ*E

E 6B181,m LET 1HJSR 601 79i NEXT

n
5820 PAUSE 600) GO TD 72MB

t.aae for r*»B to puFi for n*pc to

PC+PUF*3 STEP 3 I PRINT AT l8,Ni
INK 2{ « > Lj_ 'l NEXT N: NEXT M
6001 FOfTM^B TO PUFi FDR N-PC TD
PC+PUF-3 STEP 3; PRINT AT 19, N[
INK 2l" MU" ; NEXT Nt NEXT M
6082 INK 4: FOR W"0 TO 32 STEP 3
: PRINT AT 16,N;"_i"l NEXT Ni FOR
N-B TO 32 STEP 3l PRINT AT 17,N
f »J«| NEXT N

6B03 FOR N-8 TO 32 STEP 3s PRINT
AT 18, N;"^' t NEXT N: FOR N-B TO
32 STEP 3l PRINT AT 19,N|"J,"i N
EXT N

hB04 INK 0: RETURN
6858 PRINT AT 2B t Bl PAPER h; L*
6055 PRINT AT 21, Bl PAPER 7|L*I
PRINT AT 21. Bj PAPER 7;"SUBS=" P L
1 ( - TinE-"|Tl(" SCORE- H l.SC

6060 PRINT AT 0,10s '^D < 1 B**p >£."
6 IBB RETURN
70B0 POKE 68139,40: LET Ll-LI-1:

PRINT AT 21, 5| PAPER 7jLi
7BB5 LET CAR-CAN
7010 LET 1-USR 6B201
7B2B IF LI=B THEN SO TO 720B
7030 LET PU-Bl LET Y-li LET X = 16
1 CLS i GO TO 3B

7 200 PAPER 0: POKE 23624 t 0t PAUS
E 3B01
7210 PRINT AT 2B,0| PAPER 0| INK

fc ■ ■ SAME OVER

II

7220 POKE 60230,171 FOR N-B TO 1
9t POKE 6022B,17B: PRINT AT 21, B
; PAPER B;Lfs LET L=USR 3200: RA
ND0H1ZE USR 60227: NEXT Ni BDRDE
H I

723B POKE 6B LB 1,255: PRINT AT 7,
5; INK 5; "HELL DONE A 6DDD TRY"!

FOR N=0 TD 4* LET L=USR 601791
NEXT N

7235 BORDER 1

724B PAUSE 30i PRINT AT 10, B; IN
K 4 j "YOU SCORED "iSC: LET L=USR
68091
730B PRlNT^Bs" PRESS ANV KEY T

D PLAY AGAIN"
7385 INK. 0: LET 7_*2l
LET PC-lBl LET FT«2l
t LET y=3t LET X=16:
7306 FDR N =42000 TO 42B5B;
N,0: NEXT N

7310 PAUSE 0: LET Ll-9: LET TI-2
00: LET BC=B: SO TO 21
8900 POKE 4?0BB,4: POKE 42001,14
; POKE 42B02,l: POKE 42003,0* PD
KE 42B04,lf POKE 42085,253
8*? IB CLS : LET a=42B05
8915 FDR + = 1 TO t.
B92B POKE a, INT IRND«29+2J
B<?30 POKE a+l,lNI <RND#10+4)

6948 POKE a+2,1

B95B POKE a +3,1

B960 IF NOT PEEK (a+2) AND NOT P

EEK (a+3) THEN DO TO 3940

B970 POKE *+4,|

0980 POKE a+5,255

89B5 LET *«*+5

H99B NEXT «

8995 RETURN

900B LET tat -01 FDR n=60B0B TO 6

0247: READ a: PUKE n,a: LET tot»

tnt+a: NEXT n

9B1B IF tat<">2B578 THEN PRINT "

ERDRR IN DATA DO NOT RUN": STDP

9B20 DATA 221,33,16,164,221,126,

0,254,255,40,34,95,221,86, 1,6,2,

62 , 22 , 2 1 5 , 1 22,2 1 5 , 1 23 , 2 15 , 62 , 3 2 ,

215.62.32.215.20. 16.240.221 .33.2

2 1 , 35 , 2 21 , 33 , 22 1 1 35 , 22 1 , 35 , 24 , 2 1
5,221 ,33, 16, 164,221 , 126

9B30 DflTfi 0,254,255,288,221,1 ".
2,254,255,40,4,254,31 ,32,3,221 . 1
26 ,2 ,237,68,221, 119,2,221 ,126,1 ,

254.2.40.4.254.14.32.6.221 .126.3
,237, 6B, 221, 119,3,221, 126, B. 221,
1 34 2 221 119

9050 DATa'b,221, 126,1.221, 134,3,

221. 119.1.14.144.221.283.4.126.4
0, 1 8 , 22 1 , 283 , 4 , 19B , 62 , 4 , 1 29 , 79 , 2
4 , 4 , 22 1 , 203 , 4 , 254 , 221 , 1 26 , 4 , 203 ,
191, l90,40,50,i43,92,221,B6,l,6,
2,62,22,215

9060 DATA 122,213,221,126,0,215,
121,215,12, 121,215, 1 2, 28, 16, 230,

22 1 , 35 , 22 1 , 35 , 22 1 , 35 , 221 , 33 , 22 1 ,
35, 195, 145,234

907B DATA 243,14,255,62,16,237,1
63 , 65 , 16 , 234 ,62 , 7 , 237 , 1 63 , 65 , 1 6 ,
254 , 1 3 , 32 , 239 , 25 1 , 20 1 , 6 , 35 , 1 97 , 3
3,0,3,17,1 , 8, 229, 205 ,181, 3*229 , 1
7, 16,0,167,237,82,32,248,193.16,
233 ,281, 14, B, 62, 16,211, 254
908B DATA 65,16,254,62,7,211,234
,65, 16,254, 13,32,239,2B1
9188 RESTORE 9100: FOR n=USR »m*

TO USR "It"* 7 ' HEAD ■" PO^E "i*l

NEXT n
9110 DATA 8,0,0,0,1,3,5,71,0,0,0
, , 1 2B , 1 92 , 1 64 , 234 , 1 66 , 30 , I 1 , I SB
, 2B1 , 1 6 , 1 7 , 34 . 1 B5, 1 1 2 , 246 , 2 1 7 , 36
, 34 , 1 7 , 1 2

9120 DATA 0,0,0,0,33,67,69,37,0,
0,0,0, 120, 195,164, 16B.39, 159, 139
, 116,9,^7,98,12,233,242,244,216,
37,34,32, 16

9130 DATA 0,B2,44.S6,6B,12B,12B,
60 ,60 , 1 20 , 120,60 , 68 , 1 20 , i 20 , 60 , 2
3 ,63 , 1 26 , 255, 254 , 254 , 254 , 1 85, I 52
, 252 , 1 26 , 235 , 1 27 , 1 27 , 1 27 , 137, 1 85
,235,234,235,255,120,63,25, 157,2
55 , 1 27, 255 ,255 , 30 , 232 , 132
<?140 DATA 255,127,63,31,15,7,3,1
, 252 , 24E , 244 , 252 , 244 , 240 , 234 ,0,0
,7, 15,28,60,231,127,235,0, 128,24
B , 1 32 , 1 76 , 1 7 7 , 1 6 1 , 255 , 104 , 23H , 1
9,235,104,63,31,12,213,253,214,2
52,240,240,224,96
9500 LET Z=2; LET X»l6t LET V-ll

LET LI =5: LET 5C=B: LET T 1=2001
9510 LET L»--<32#*pr : LET F*U=-0
992B LET CAN=B: LET PC-ll LET FT
=2s LET PUF-FT
995B RETURN

9"?99 SAVE "ISOTOPE": PUKE Z3736,
1 B 1 ; GO TO 9999

SINCLAIR USER August 198$

»3

INTRODUCING an ancient puzzle with a new twist for your QL.
The idea in Slipped Discs by R. Hartill from Pontypridd, Wales, is
to take the discs from the first peg, which is on the Left of the screen,
and reassemble them in the same order on the third peg, on the right.

Unlike the original puzzle, the Towers of Hanoi, you can select the
number of discs you require. Once you have made your choice the QL will
calculate the optimum number of moves in which the puzzle can be
solved ,

10 REMark Tower O-f Brahma by Rah

ert H*rtill

20 REMark 26 Dyn«* Road ,Rhydy* el

in, Pontypridd

IB MODF Q: WINDOW 43B- 150 ,3S,55

419 OPEM#3 , SCRi W I NDQW#3 , 271 ,24* 13

5.20

50 DFEN*4, SCR (WINDOW* 1,2 70,24,14

0,25

bB IN^^iPRPER^S.lsCSIZEES^,!

70 FAPEF^^PAPEftfl^aiPAFER BlS

CALE 34, 5, a

BB PR IN1#B, "Enter amount of disc

m r equired. ": tNPUNlte , *<no

90 IP amo:4 THEN PRIMT#a,"4 OT HI

or* discs please. "(60 TO SB

IBB lnwfeStfPRINT|ta,"Lea5t moves --

";1om; ". Press any key."; PAUSE

S10 DIM disc tamo) icount=-l:FDR n

=1 TD jmo;disc!nJ=1

120 DIM a(amo),b(amu)

130 FOR nM TO amo

140 [jval =15+(a™o-n)* (30/*lltoJ

150 a(n> =3S): bin) "bv«l

160 NEST n

17B CLS(|B: screen :finttr move

190 DEFine PROCecfiire enter_mov*

19B CSIZE 3,liINK 7lAT 1,1: PRINT

TO 4; 1:TQ 14r2|T0 23; 3
200 CLS#4:CL5#5: I Nt#J , i 1 BGRDERffe
, liTtCSIZEfto.S.^PRlNTffej "Nov**

taken so far "(Count

210 na*l

220 FOR n=l TD amai IF dl»C<n)<>3

THEN no=0
23B IF no THEN FINISH

240 Cl_9^B:CSI?Pt0,H, 1:ST*0,] .l:f
RtNTMOi ■Movina from column "JlFL
flBH.TJIfB, l:PFtlNTlWl""»"|iFLAEHflB,0

REPeat loop

row=CuDE<INKEY*}

IF row=232 THEN RUN

IF ro*#-4"? THEN cnl=l:EXIT

IF ro*J = 50 THEN cal=2:£XIT

IF row-51 THEN col=3:EXIT

250
260
270

2B0
I oop
290

9 oop

300

loop

310 END REP*at loop
320 BEEP 1000,5

330 AT#B, 1,22iPRINt40| "to column
■;:FLftSH#B,lfPRlNT*a,-?" ( t FLASH

340 AT$B,l,20lPRINl#0,col

350 REP«at press

360 row2=C00£(]NKEV*>

370 IF rcw2=49 AND colOl THEN

eal to=l:EXlT pre*!
3S0 "lF row2-30 AND eal<>2 THEN

COl to=2:EKIT preM
390 " IF TOW2-S1 AMD cal<>3 THEN

eal_tB»3jEXIT press
400 END REPeat press
410 ATjh> t I , 12iPRINT*k8,col_toieEE
P 1B00,5: safe=0

423 taf e = 0s oovi _ -from col,col_to«
en ter_mnve

432 END DEFin* •nttr.novt
440 REMark DRAW

SCREEN

453 DEFine PROCedure *cram
460 cou.nt=caunt + l :CL5: BORDER 1,7
tk-1
470 FOR p = amo TD 1 STEP -llfttae*.

I tamu p.jfp) , b<p>
400 END DEFin* screen
490 REMark draw discs

■_-3H DL^irre PRDCedur* Oltci <*,*.

y)

SIB r*di«l+33-*«f29/**o)

520 1=30 /a mo

53B k=k+l:IF k=B THEW k"2

540 FILL Oi INK BiCIRCLE K,y,r«di

+1 ,.3,1.52

55B FOR n = y TO y+1-lsFlLL Be INK

kt CIRCLE x ,r>,r*di ,.3, 1.52l CIRCLE

k , n , radi - 1 , . 5 , 1 .52: NEXT n
560 FILL H INK kl CIRCLE H,y+1-1,
radi , .5,1, 52l FILL

570 FILL 0: INK Bi CIRCLE »,ytl,r»
di+1 ,,5, 1,52
5BB END DEFine discs
590 REMark The movement
600 DEFine PROCedure mcive_*ram (
ir ,t>
610 FDR n=l TO amo ilF disc(nl-f

r THEN »*+*»l

420 IF safe=fl THEN error _tr*pt RE

Turn

430 FOR n=amc TD 1 STEP -It IF di

sc(n)=4r THEN *rtd I »C -n

640 FOR n-I TO *mdimctIF diactnl

= t AND smd i sc >n : errar_tr«pl RETur

n

650 FOR ^=1 TD 3

660 IF t«v THEN

670 FOR H= amo TO 1 STEP -1

6B0 IF srodisc=w THEN b<w)-)Sl*<H

)=3fl+( (v-l)*60>

690 NEXT H

700 END IF

710 END FOR v

720 FOR n=l TO amo

730 FOR c=l TO hid

740 IF due in) -t AND Mdimc-c TH

EN h(c)=b.lc)+3B/*«n

7SB NEXT c

760 NEXT ft

77B di sc Ismdl sc ) =t i screen

7B0 END DEFin* «ov*_*ro«

790 REMark The end

B00 DEFine PR0C*dur* FINISH

BIB BEEP 3B0BB, 512, 512, 512, 312,5

12,512: CLS«j2

B20 FLASH#B, 1 iCSIZE0B,B, 1 iCL9#Bi

PRINTl|0;Ta 4|"YOU FINISHED IN "f

count t" MOVES ";FLASH0g,0

B30 IF count=lDH THEN FLASH 1 : PR

INT"Vau finimh«d in th* t*«*t po

ssihle moves ," ) 1 oh: FLASH

H40 PRINT"PRESB V FDR ANOTHER

BO OR "N- TP OUiT"

B3B REPeat press

B6B KEV#-INKEV*

B7B IF KEV*» N y" OR KEY^-Y" TH

EN RUN

B90 IF KEY*="N" OR KEY*-"n" TH

EN ST DP

090 END REPeat prftf

9BB END DEFin* FINISH

910 REMark Error tree

92B DEFine PROCedure error tr*p

930 CLSfta:PRlNT0fl,"CnI "|COl|" t

o col "icol.toi" i* illegal"

940 FLASH#3 , 1 : PR I NT$3 , " Press

any key. " t FLASHES , Bl PAUSE

950 END DEFine errnr.trap

960 DEFin* PROCedur* lowest; low=

B

97B FOR h-1 TD a«iDilo«=]D«t2+l

9B0 END DEFine

84

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

SHARPEN up your wits for
Target by David Myles of
Methil Leven, Fife, The
program runs on a 48K Spectrum
or Spectrum Plus, and is that rare
thing, an educations] game which is
actually fun to play.

You are given a row of numbers
and must choose two by firing at
them. You may then add, substract
or multiply (hem to try and get as
close as possible to a target number.
The game is for two players and
besides improving your menial
arithmetic it also contains plenty of
scope for clever strategy. Full in-
structions are provided in the
program h

The gams uses our special abbre-
viations for graphics characters so
please read the first page of Program
Printout before entering the listing.

1 CLS : POKE 33656*8* DIM N* <
2,7): BORDER 0: PAPER B: INK 7i
BRIGHT B: INVERSE 0: OVER 0: FLA
SH 0: CLS : PRINT AT 9,4; FLASH
E; PAPER 4( INK 1; BRIGHT I ; "S T
DP THE TAP E" ;AT 11,7s P
APER 6; INK 2t FLASH 8; "TARGET H
AS LOADED 1 '

Z FOR A«B TO 7: READ B: POKE
UER "A*+A,B: NEXT A: DATA 14,24,
60, 68, 126,126, 255, 255

3 FDR A TD 50.0: NEXT A: FOR
A=B TD 3B: PRINT AT 9 , A I INK 2;

■'(■ptii": BEEP . B1,A: BEEP . B05,0
: NEXT A: PRINT AT 9,31 ; " t*p> " I
FOR A=34B TO El STEP -It PR J NT AT
11, A; INt 2: £±<5P> "* BEEP .01, A:

BEEP .Bl,-lBi NEXT A: PRINT AT
1 1 ,0; • tap} -

10 PLOT 15,111: DRAM 0,25l DRA
W 23,0: DRAW 8,-25: DRAW -25,0

11 PLOT 55,111: DRAW 0,25t DRA
W 25,0: DRAW B.-25: DRAW -25,0

12 PLOT 93, It I) DRAW 8,25: DRA
W 25 t Bl DRAW 0,-25: DRAW -25,0

13 PLOT 139,111) DRAW B,Z5: DR
AW 25, Bs DRAW 0,-25: DRAW -25,0

14 PLOT 175,111: DRAW B,23s DR
AU 25,. «t DRAW B,-25= DRAW -25,0

15 PLOT 215, 111: DRAW 0,25: DR
AW 25, B: DRAW B,-25: DRAW -25, B

20 LfT B=B: LET A*= - ' TARGET" 3 F
OR A=3 TO SI STEP 5

21 LET b=b+ll PRINT AT IS, a; I
Ni 2; "_£."! PLDT a*B+4,32: DRAW 0,
78

22 PRINT AT 5, A- If. PAPER 2l IN
K 7s M3*sp) ";AT 6, A-l; " (3«»p J "; A
T 7,.A-l;"<3«*pl "

23. PRINT AT 6»A: II*; 7t PAPER
Z;A*(P>

24 BEEP .01 ,0

25 PRINT AT ie,*:"<*P> "; PLOT
OVER l| 4*0+4,321 DRAW OVER lsB

,7B

26 IF A -26 THEN FOR C=A TO A+
4; PRINT AT 1B,C| INK 2;'lii H f BeE
F .BI,A: PRINT AT lB,Cl " tap) " : N
EXT C

29 NEXT A

^O OVER Bt PRINT AT 1B,B; PAPE
R fa; INK 2; "WRITTEN BY DAVID MVL
ES JUNE 1*95: AT 17,5; PAPER B:
INI 7; 'A GAME FOR tWD PLAYERS"

31 FDR a=0 TO 4BB: NEXT *

35 PRINT AT 17,0; "WOULD YOU LI
KE INSTRUCTIONS (Y/Nt "■

4(9 IF INkEYf" M V" OR INKEY* = "y"
THEN GO TO 90B0

4 1 IF INKEY*-"'N'" DR INKEV*»"n"
THEN GO TD IBB

43 GO TD 40

GO TO 2BB

LET A=12

LET A*- HH "

PAUSE B

[F CDDE IN«EY*=

IBB CLS

1 85 PRINT AT B,5; INK 3;
ENTER YOUR NAME" 1 [AT 1,B(
LETTERS) "'

186 PRINT AT 4,2j INK 5;
I"
1B7
150

160
163

TO 17B

164 IF
THEN

5p) "

165
THEN
166
167
lfaB
149

17B

LET

■PLAYER

215 LET DE=T/6Bl FOR A-=B TO
PRINT AT IB, 14; PAPER 2; INK
BEEP . 0I,Aj/DEs NEXT A

Z1B PRINT AT 19,14; PAPER 2;
K 7; INT T

219 LET P=l: LET B=I: LET P1=H:

LET P2=*B

222 PRINT AT B,5; FLASH 1; INK
1[ PAPER 6! "ITS YDUR SHOT "*N#tP

I

13 THEN GO

2B, IB; "PRESS SPACE
TD FIRE"; FDR A-3

COOE INKEY*=12 AND A>12
LET A-A-li PRINT AT P,Aj"<
SO TO 168
IF A* 1 2 AND CODE INKEY*-12

GO TD 160
PRINT AT P.AitiMKEY*
BEEP .1,11 LET A~A+1
IF A=19 THEN DO TD 17H
GO TD lfc«

LET A*=""S FOR A=l2 TO 2B:
B*=SCREEN* IP, A)

NEXT At

173 LET A*=A*+Bfl

1 74 LET N* ( N » "A*

175 BEEP .3,0: RETURN
201 LET M=l: LET P=4:

0: GO TD 2B4

2B3 BORDER B: FOR A= 1 TO
ORDER 2: BORDER h: BORDER
DER 5: BORDER B: PAUSE U
: GD TD 430

LET N=2i LET P«>4: PRINT AT
INK 55 "2U5#sp>"« GO SUB 15

BO SUB 15

50B: B

4: BOR

NEXT A

204
4,9;

2B5
CLS

206

20B

LET A*=™ I3*mpl "J PAUSE IB:

FDR A>=i5 TD 254 STEP 4B
PLDT A,1U= DRAW fl,25i DRAW

25,0: DRAW B,-2S» DRAW -25, B

2B9 NEXT A

21B PRINT AT 2,Bl INK 2; " I32*g3
J"

212 PRINT AT 17„Bf. INK l t PAPER
2;'M32*g3,32*ig31"

213 PRINT AT 17,12* PAPER 1\ IN
K 7 S -TARGET"; AT IB, 12; ' <6-«p) "

214 LET T» <RND»130>+5B: IF T>15
OR T' 50 THEN 6D TD 214

223 PRINT AT
-|AT 21,10; "
TO 31 STEP 5

224 PRINT AT 6, A; PAPER B; INK
AifINT (RND«9)+1: NEXT A

225 FOR A=B TO 29: PAUSE 2

226 PRINT AT It, A? INK 2f~t«p)F

H

Z27 IF INKEYJO-lapf THEN NEX
T A: PRINT AT 16 ,3Bj " (2"*p> "' GD
TO 225
229 PLDT A*B+11,4B; DRAW fl,61:

229 IF ATTR (6 t A+ll<>6 THEN Bt
EP . 081,60: GO TD 235

230 PRINT AT S,Aj PAPER 2l INK
7j " I3*5p) "lAT 6, A; OVER l;"<3#»p
>"- r AT 7,A| OVER &ft~S**p>"

231 BEEP -2,Bl LET A* <B) "SCREEN
* Ci,A+l> : LET B-B+l

232 IF B=3 AND F= 1 THEN LET B-
B; LET P-Zj 90 TO 3BB

233 IF B=3 AND P=Z THEN LET B-
Bl LET P-l; GD TO 3BB

235 PLOT OVER i;A*B+li,#9: DRA
W OVER lfB,61: GO TO 226

30B FOP G=B TO IB: l«:XT Gl PLOT
OVER l;A*a+Ll,4B: DRAW OVER 1
tB.fal: PRINT AT 2B, 1 Bj " 1 1 1 *«p> u i
AT 21,lBs"(ll*»pJ '"

3B5 PRINT AT L9,24j PAPER 2l IN
K 7iN*<2)iAT 20,24t" SCORE "(AT
21 ,24; " t7*spr' S.AT Zl,26lP2

3B6 PRINT AT l9,Bl PAPER 2l I Nk

7;N«tl);AT 2B,B}" SCORE ";AT 21
,8; " C7«!ip)";AT 2l T 2iPl

3fl7 LET C=VAL A* I 1 1 « LET D=UAL

POH2)

31B PRINT AT B,B("A=ADD,5-SUBTR

iimiinUi'ii on page #fi

SINCLAIR LSER August 1985

BS

Program Printout

continued from page 85
ACT & n=HULTIPLV H

311 IF INKEY*="A" THEM LET A=C
+ D; PRINT AT 0,31; "A": LET B*-" +
'■; GO TO 320

312 IF 1NKEY*="S" THEN LET A-C
-D: PRINT AT 0,31; "5": LET B*-"-
" : GO TO 320

313 IF INKEY**"N" THEN LET A-C
• D: PRINT AT 0,31f"M"t LET B*= - X

: SO TO 323
31-* 60 TD 311

320 PRINT AT 0,0; " (32»*p> '": FDR
B=4 TD Hit PRINT AT B,B; " I32«»p

) "l NEXT B

321 PRINT AT B,B;"TYPE IN YOUR
ANSWER"

322 PLOT 7B, 111: DRAW 0,23 1 BRA
H 47, 0: DRAW 0,-25 1 DRAW -47, B

323 PRINT AT fi, IB; C; B*; D; AT 6,1
5;"="

324 IF A<lfl THEN LET L-Sl SO T
324

323 LET L=17

3=6 PLOT 135,111; DRAW t 25t DR
AW I6*L.H: DRAW 0,-25: LET L=L + t
hi DRAM L,0

72 7 IF C-Q AND B*="-" THEN PR I
NT AT 6, 17; •-"

329 IF A 9 THEN LET V»lBl LET
X = 1 9 s [iO TO 33B

329 LET V»17l LET X=iB

330 FOR G=V TO X: PAUSE B: LET
D*=INKEY*

331 IF INKEV*<CHR* 4S DR INKEY*
■>CHR* 57 THEN PRINT AT 6,10;"(b|

pi" I IF A>9 THEN PRINT AT 6,19|
" (sp) '; GO TO 33B

332 PRINT AT 6,B|9f

333 NEXT G

334 IF V-1B THEN PRINT AT 5,17
; OVER 1; PAPER 2) INK 7;"<4#»p)
";AT 6,17; " (4»sp) u f AT 7,17;"<4Mi
P> "

335 IF V-17 THEN PRINT AT 5,17
; OVER If PAPER 2; INK 7|" (3*sp)
"(At i,17;"<3#*p) " f flT 7,J7 5 " (3»a
pi"

334, IF V=ia THEN LET A*="e2«Sp
l"l LET A* < 1 ) =5CREENf td>,lB): LE I
T A*(2)=SCREENj* C6.19)

337 IF V = 17 THEN LET M="(spr'
: LET Aid i -SCREEN* (6,1B>

ZZQ IF V=17 AND B*-"- 1 ' THEN LE
T A* = M2#sp)": LET A* 1 1 1 -SCREEN*

<6,17t: LET A* (2) -SCREEN* (6, IB
J

340 IF VAL A*"A THEN PLOT B7,4
7: DRAW 0,25: DRAW 73, B: DRAW 0,
-25: DRAW -73,8: PRINT AT 13,11*

PAPER 2; INK 7i"(9« 5 pl";AT 14,1
If" CORRECT ";AT 15, 1 1 ; " <9«sp> ";

FOR F=-3B TD 30: BEEP .B1,ABS F
; NEXT F

35B IF VAL A*OA THEN PLOT 95,
47: DRAW 0,25t DRAW 57,0! DRAW
,-2Sl DRAW -57,0s PRINT AT 13,12 1
; PAPER 2i INK 7; " f 7*sp> " j AT 14,
12|' WRONG ";AT 15, 12 t " (7*sp) " :
BEEP l,-25t BEEP 1,-70: GO TO 35 |

351 IF VAL A*=A AND P-l THEN F
OR 2=P2 TO P2+Ai PRINT AT 21.2A|

PAPER 2; INK 7;?; BEEP .01, 4B:
NEXT 2; LET F2-P2+A

352 IF VOL A*=A AND P=2 THEN F
OR Z=P1 TO P1*A: PRINT AT 21,2;
PAPER 2: INK 7| It BEEF ,01,481 N
EXT It LET Pl=Pl+A

353 PRINT AT 21,26; PAPER 2| IN
K 7 t P2?AT 21,2;P1

354 IF PI- INT T OR P2-1NT T THE

N GO TO 400

355 PRINT AT 0, 0; - ( 32*5*) 1 " ; FOR
B-4 TO 16: PRINT AT B, 0) " < 32*=p

1 ": NEXT B

354 FOR A- 15 TO 254 STEP 401 PL
DT A, HI; DRAM B,25: DRAW 25, Bt
DRAW fl, -25: DRAW -25,01 NEXT A

357 LET A*-"(2*spO "i LET B«l ■ B

TO 222

400 CLS t IF P1=INT T THEN LET
K-l: BO TO 402

401 LET K=2

4IB PRINT AT 10, B; INK 6["THE W
INNCRS IS , «

412 FOR A"21 TO 12 STEP -ll PR1
NT AT A, 13; N* IK); BEEP .01, A: BE
EP .01,A+lBl BEEP . Bl,A+20; NEXT

A

42B GO TD 203

500 CLS : GQ TO 10
9BH0 PAUSE 10: CLS

9010 PRINT AT 0. 10; - INSTRUCTIONS
" ;AT 1, IBf (12»=p) "
9020 PRINT AT 3,0; INK 4; » 1 , VOU

MUST FIRST CHOOSE TWO NUMBER
E BY SHOOTING AT THEM"; GO BUB 9
990t PRINT #B; "(31*Jpl"

9030 PRINT AT 6,0; INK Sj "2. YOU
THEN HAVE TD CHQOSE IF YOU WD
ULD LIKE TO ADD, SUBTRACT DR HU
LTIPLV THE TWO NUMBERS"! M SUB
999B: PRINT #0; AT B, IB; "' CI 2#»p I *
9040 PRINT AT 10,0; INK h\ "3. ¥0
U MUST THEN ANSWER THE SUM COflft
ECTLY AND IT WILL BE ADDED TO
YOUR SCORE": GO SUB 99901 PRINT
#B;"f32*sp) "

9050 PRINT AT 14,0| INK 5; "4- TH
E FIRST PERSON TO REACH THETARG
ET WINS": BO SUB 99901 PRlNT4tB;
AT a,B;"<32#»p) ■
9055 PRINT AT 17, B; INK 4; "5. 1

F YOU GO OVER THE TARBET YOU
MUST TRY TO SET A NEGATIVE NUMB
ER eg. 1-9 = -B"
9060 FOR B-B TO 9: FOR A*0 TD i

PAUSE 5: PRINT AT 21, H; "USE " |
INK A| "SPACE"; INK 7|" TO FIRE":

BEEP .001, A*7: NEXT A; WEST B:
GO TO 9H70

9B70 CLS t PRINT AT B,7| "WOULD Y
DU LIKE TO" ;AT 10*3; "SEE THE INS
TRUCTIONS AGAIN"; AT 12,13j"(Y/N)

"T* THEN GO TD 9

9071 IF INKEY*-
BBB

9072 IF INKEY*-"N" THEN SO TD 1
00

9073 GO TO 9071
99B0 STOP

9990 PRINT >B;AT 0,10; "PRESS EPA

CE"

9?9i IF lNKEY*-"(ipl " THEN FDR

A=l TO 101 BEEP .B09.A! NEXT Ai

RETURN

9992 GO TO 9991

9993 CLEAR : PRINT "PREPARE THE
SPECTRUM TO SAVE ( 34* spj THIS PROS
RAM"

9994 SAVE CHR* 1 3+CHR* 13+CHR* 1
3+CHR* 13+ "TARGET" LINE B: BEEP
1,-B

9995 CLS : PRINT "PREPARE THE BP
ECTRUM TO VERIFY(34**p>THIS PRDG
RAM"« VERIFY ""; BEEP 1 ,-0i CLS
t PRINT "VERIFICATION O-K.-'t STD
P

u

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G120 QUICKSHOTIIJoystick 8.90

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An Industry standard joystick interface using the 5N31 or
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DKZ9D DKTronics Dual Port Joystick I'lace 1 1 65
Allows connection at two joysticks, one using IN31 , and
the other the cursor keys.

DA230 Oatel Games Ace Joystick I lace 12.95

An IN31 system with sound amplification through the
TV speaker.

PR240 ProtekSwilchaoie Joystick nace 15.45

Switchabie between IN31, Cursor keys and Sinclair
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DA25Q Dalel Turbo Ace Joystick I'lace 15,95

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BU280 Bud Programmable I'lace
Saga 1 'Emperor' Keyboard
DKTronics Keyboard
Kempston Centronics 'E 1 Printer
I'face
Plug-in-and-go with software held on EPROM
nects Spectrum to standard Centronics printers.
DK530 DKTronics Centronics Printer I'lace 29. 95
As KP150 with relocatable software supplied on tape.
DK630 DKTronics Speech Synthesizer 21.95

Supplied with driving software and its own speaker.
CU620 Currah Microspeech 18.75

Plug-in-and-go system putting speech through the TV
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DN810 Alphacom 32 printer 49.95

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storage box 5.95

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S3

SINCL A I R 1 : 5 1: R A u* uir J9SS

WE LEFT Samarrak in the
dawn, heading south and east
10 reach the Imperial Highway
and the frontier ofMaru. I confess I was
in an ill mood, after being fleeced by the
smug landlord of the Damaged Dragon.
Eighteen silver pieces he charged, that
crafty southerner! It would have cost me
more hut I refused resolutely to pay the
seven extra coins he demanded because,
he said, my great weight had broken the
bed, A quick demonstration of the powers
of my new magic club convinced him.

Around noon we joined the great
Highway, paved with red flagstone and
shimmering in the sun. Here began the
Marshes of Vrunnar. Giant reed beds
stretched as far as the eye could see. The
Moravians let this place stay wild so that
raiders must follow the road or risk the
terrors of the bogs - either way they will
perish.

Just before nightfall we came to the
first outpost of the Empire - a tall,
wooden tower protected by a palisade
and deep ditches. The five man garrison
kept many horses corralled to provide
fresh mounts for northerly bound couriers.
Here I met Urdnal of the Nose -
swollen and crushed it is from many years
of drink and brawls. We were once
comrades in the Vth Eshak Scouts and he
had stayed on as a corporal. We drank
and reminisced a while and then joined
the other travellers who skeltered over-
night at the post. As we sal around the
fire they confided their problems to me.

Mindstrainer Matthews of Watford
told me of his time upon the Emerald
Isle. He had built a canoe there but
could not sail the thing- In the past I
have held converse with Michael, Great
Lord of the Levels, and he revealed to me
that the adventurer should drop his canoe
at the shore, say 7r j or board the vessel -
then simply travel where he will.

Another had been trapped m a crumb-
ling mine on the same island but could
not prop up the ceiling with a handy post,
Support is all you need.

Mindstrainer had discovered a magic
word - V he said. Alas, I hear that this
is of no great use except as a red herring.
It is only the echo of 'xyzzy', a spelt in
the Colossal Adventure*

A group had been bewildered in the
town ofScarthorpe, home of the Urban
Upstart- Skinhead of M or dor grumbled
that he could not kill the rats wkich infest
parts of that dismal town. As far as I
know, rodent extermination is not neces-
sary to success. The cheese may help you
escape imprisonment if eaten.

Brak Beamish of Horsell gave us all
some useful tips but, despite his know-
ledge, could not persuade the airport
officers to let him through to his craft.
Two things are necessary - any pilot must
have the required papers to leave the
town but also should brighten the officers'
tedious day with a suitable bribe.

This was of no use to Lone Wulf of
Fife who had not even been able to find
any money, though he had traced the
machine that dispenses it. People are
careless, Wulf, and will drop the
strangest things into dustbins and rubbish
piles. Read all letters with care and your
trouble may soon end.
El-Mokadem of Famham made care-

Gordo dispenses

wisdom to
adventurers in the
Urunnar Marshes

ful notes of what was said but asked
where the flying suit might be. Perhaps it
was left to dry on some pipes?

None of us could help Krusher Kreis-
cher of 41 A Dynevor Road, Skewen,
Neath SAW 6TF. He was desperate to
know how to remove a copy of the Quill
from a safe in his Murder Hunt. If you
hove the answer then write to him
without delay!

Also requiring your assistance is Tho-
mas de Barri of 271 Larchville, Water-
ford, Eire. He covets the Jewels of
Babylon- He has braved manyperib but
cannot elude the cannibals, the crocodile
or the octopus.

As I went to look over the horseflesh at
the corral I met Pranger Patel of
BlakmhalL There are still very many of
you who wish to breach the force field on
Planet of Death - he advised that all
should reflect the field twice with the
mirror and then dance. Others do say that
the true route is to fire the gun twice
before cavorting - try them both. This
should assist Hugo of Oakham whose

hair is greying with the task,

Pranger also advised me that anyone\
can escape the prison by kicking the bar.
Keep this piece of iron as it can be used
later as a fuse. Go up to leave the cell.
But Pranger could not use the lift to take \
his spacecraft to freedom - the High
Priests of Artie tell me that button four
on the control pad should do the trick.
The clue at this place reads 'No Dusty
Bin Rules'. Surely this means that 3 2 U
should be avoided? At all costs, say I.

Lady Susan of Chester overheard us
and confessed that she had not even
managed to find the laser gun. If she has
a floorboard she may cross a ravine
beyond the lake, There stands a hut and
there within the gun.

At another fire Boyd the Bold boasted
of his total success with Valkyrie 17. He
has also found that repeatedly opening
and closing the safe will deliver an
endless supply of necklaces and lethal
boxes - but they are of no use! This
meant little to Chris of Taggart whose
problem was to find a use for a can of
spray foam. It is not for whiskers, young
sir, but can blind any spying eye, even if
made of glass or metal.

Now, my friends, I have received a
hopeful plea from young Persevering
Paul of 100 Benland, Peterborough
PE3 SEE. Thus he writes: u Dear Gordo
Greatbelty, I've been playing Magic
Mountain and can go no further, I have
found two mazes and sought the exits m
vain." Give this bard your valiant
assistance — his gratitude will be un-
bounded.

Ranger Reid collared me to claim his
title of Lord High System Breaker. He
joys that he has completed System
L5000 after many weeks of hacking.
Should any of you wish to know the
solution - telephone him. He would not
reveal the true number except in code.
Break it and the System* s secrets may be
yours: (7+c)(8+e)(7+a)(8+e)(7+a)
(6+i)(0+aX8+eX8+e)(l-b).

So we alt fell asleep around the dying ,
embers, though there were strange bowl-
ings from the marsh and the horses behind
whinnied in fear. Til next moon, my
fellow travellers, farewell.

fhcZCjft

Gordo Greatbtlly, Landlord

if you Have a sale to wit, or are m need of a helping
hand, write to (he Landlord of the Dancing Ogre
cia Sinclair User, Priory Court, 30-32 Famngden
Lane, London ECIR SMB.

CLAIR USER August 1985

89

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Nice Password.
Shame about the Identity

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Richard Price has
fun in Dun Darach
and escapes from
a sunk submarine

ANYONE who has done some
bitch -hiking or Long distance
L travelling will know how it
feels to arrive somewhere new and
foreign — tired, broke, edgy and with
nowhere to stay. It is always unsettling
and frustrating not to know the local
customs or how the natives will, react
to your outlandish behaviour and
dress. It is ten times worse if you have
no idea how you can raise some cash to
survive a little bit longer.

If you have never experienced this
first-hand you can still get a strong
flavour of being on the road from Dun
Darach — more a prcquel than a
sequel to Gargoyle's stunning Tir Na
Nog.

Dun Darach

Cuchulainn,, Irish myth-hero, remains
the central character in the new game.
This time it is not the sidhe- ridden
afterworld he strides through but a
city of living men, more medieval than
mystic with its winding, maze- 1 ike
streets and busy, preoccupied citizens.

After a hard day's fighting against
his traditional enemies, the men of
Connacht, Cuchulainn and his char-
ioteer Loeg stop at a wayside inn for
the heroic equivalent of a Jong cool
pint of JC.

As they wait for their drinks in
comes a very beautiful woman, asking
if one of them will help her with the
broken axle of her carriage. Loeg is
severely smitten and leaps to her
assistance.

When Cuchulainn comes out to
watch he finds that one of bis chariot-
horses has been slaughtered and his
charioteer kidnapped. Further en-
quiries reveal that Loeg has been
abducted by Skar, a good-looking but
entirely evil sorceress whose base is
the Secret City of Dun Darach,

Dun Darach uses the same out-
standing graphic format as its prede-
cessor and is effectively a controllable
animated cartoon. Cuchulainn and the
scene around him can be viewed from
different angles and he can be moved

£ >j SINCLAIR USER

left and right through the streets. He
can enter houses, examine their in-
teriors and collect objects. All actions
are carried out by single key presses,
with no text input.

The upper part of the screen shows
the action with the remainder of the
screen containing the compass indica-
tor, list of possessions and the name of
the quarter of the town you are
moving through. Make no mistake,
the city is large and bafflingly complex
— although the streets are named, a
map is essential,

You will find tradesmen of all
kinds, private houses, temples, banks,
gambling hells, police-like yeomen,
pickpockets and honest citizens —
though there don't seem to be too
many of those. It is possible to get a
job or make money by stealing your-

self — that is difficult as the yoemen
are vigilant and you will need to find
an Arthur Daley figure to fence the
goods before you get caught.

Gargoyle admits its debt to the
works of fantasy writers like Fritz
Lieber and Michael Moorcock. The
company has created a city which is
alive and fascinatingly complex and
you will find it all too easy to neglect
your true quest in favour of exploring
and hustling.

The game is less abstract than Tir
Na Nog — though there are plenty of
enigmas to solve — and identification
with Cuchulainn is easy as you wander
the sleazy pleasure quarter of Iumain
or the warrens of the Dispossessed.

I enjoyed every compulsive minute
of Dun Darach. It is definitely not a
rehash of a successful format, though
it has the same technical excellence
and careful programming. If anything
it is a lot more interesting and eventful
than the earlier game, with equally
superb graphics. Get it as soon as you
can and let me know quickly where I
can sell a fat black pearl or stash some
stolen gold bars. Absolutely recom-
mended .

Caesar's Travels

Caesar, the cheeky Dotty Minor car-
toon cat, has appeared once before in a
mouse-catching arcade game. Now he
is the star of Caesar's Travels, de-
scribed by the publishers as an ani-

Cuchullain on
the road

Adventure =

.11

mated story program and intended to
attract the three to nine age group.

The hand-outs with the program
make great play of the educational
benefits of the game and so it seems
fair to look at it as an aid to learning.

The game is basically an option
adventure with the animated figure of
Caesar walking through various scenes
looking for a new home — he has been
kicked out by his disgruntled owner
Mr McGregor for smashing too much
crockery in his pursuit of mice.

Each location is a full screen picture
with text written above. There are six
main options but no more than two
appear on each screen. You may
decide, for instance, to jump over a

night. Even if you work out that those
are the enemy cats you are not allowed
to count Caesar who is the only really
visible cat. Here then, you are ex-
pected to look through Caesar's eyes.
In contrast, at another decision
point, you are given the option of
going left or right. If you try to do this
from the cat's viewpoint you will be
told you are wrong.

wall or hide in a dustbin.

There are 38 routes through the
game and l& different endings, all
happy and non- violent — a point in
the game's favour.

The graphics are bright and cheer-
ful, very similar to the style of the
earlier arcade game. However, Caesar
flickers as he moves and the attributes
tend to clash. Despite that, the cat is
an appealing figure for children,

I am not sure that Caesar's Travels
is successful as an educational tool as
there are a number of inconsistencies
which may only serve to confuse
younger children.

At one point Caesar is disturbed in
the night by a posse of alley cats. The
player is asked to count the cats in the
picture, hut the other cats are depicted
only as pairs of eyes glowing in the

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Dead at the
Controls

Artie's adventures have tended to
follow a style which is straightforward
and without frills. A pan from the
addition of graphics, the last adven-
ture Eye of Bain was very much in the
same vein and none the worse for it.

When I received a pre-production
version of Dead at the Controls, I
expected to find a tight but competent
text game with added graphics. After
an hour or so of play 1 found myself
pretty disappointed,

You are the captain of a spaceship
which explodes over a strange new
planet. Heroically leaving the crew to
their fate you parachute to earth to
discover some means of escape.

Wandering through the jungle, you
find a teleport device in an Aztec city
— hang on, what's this about Aztecs,
arent we supposed to be on a strange
new world? Oh well . . . The telepor-
ter will take you to several unrelated
locations where you should be able to
collect the various bits of a spacesuit.
That's about it.

Despite fast, attractive graphics —
some repeated several times for diffe-
rent locations — the game lacks
atmosphere. Anything which is not
directly relevant to the solution has no
real existence — examining things like
rock cairns inevitably results in the

response, 'You don't see much'. The
world offers no opportunity for diver-
sion and ends up as a bleak, unstimu-
lating environment. The descriptions
are minimal.

If the review version of Dead at the
Controls resembles the final produc-
tion copies then, sadly v the game is
nowhere near Artie's usual standard.

Subsunk

This month's final offerings are both
produced by Firebird and written
with the Quill. The first is Subsunk.
You are Ed Lines ace reporter for
the trade rag Seafaring Gazette. Your

amanvrd en page 94

Adventure

continued from pagt 93

assignment, to seek out the truth of
life in a nuclear submarine, has run
into deep trouble, A foreign power has
attacked the sub, captured the crew
and scuttled the vessel .

Your only way to safety will be to
rig up some son of aerial and send a
distress message to Headquarters,

There are fast, bright graphics ibr
many of the sub's numerous compart-
ments, the occasional sound effect,

another dose of rather dreary escap-
ing, Not so, as the sub is interesting
enough to take your mind off the lack
of other creatures. Well designed and
thoroughly enjoyable escapism.

The Helm

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and a friendly interpreter which gives
information about even useless items*
Add a few wry jokes and you have an
enjoyable adventure.

You have to devise a way not only to
sort out the radio link but also to send
up the aerial on a float- One slip and
you will depressurise.

1 was initially put off on reading the
cassette notes and thought I was in for

The Helm confers immortality on its
wearers. The current owner is the
local, evil Lich but he does not have
all the pieces of the sacred headgear.
Without all the bits he cannot become
an eternal Lich so it is up to you to
find Lhe remaining disguised portions
and enter the wicked one's castle.
There you can steal the final piece.
The Lich will not take kindly to this.

The game is text only and composed
in medieval script which is occasional-
ly difficult to read. The interpreter's
responses are servile and sometimes
long-winded — instead of "What
next?' you get 'What would you have
me do next, Your Brillianceness?'.

The text scrolls up the screen in
different colours and has a startling
kaleidoscopic effect. Despite that the
descriptions and general information
are quite full and there is a fine
tongue-in-cheek approach to the busi-

ness of magical adventure,

There is a wide range of deduction
problems ranging from the traditional
crossing of the ravine to defeating a
mesmerising Psyak — which man-
ifests itself as a ball of light.

As far as I am concerned , Firebird
can carry on bringing out programs
like these. They both show that text
adventures can be fun without having
to be self-important in attitude.

Dun Da recti

Publisher Gargoyle Games

Memory 4EK Price £9.95

*****

Caesar's Travels
Publisher Mirror soft
Memory 43 K Price £7,95

# +

Dead at the Controls
Publisher Artie
Memory 43K Price £6-95

* +

Subsunk

Publisher Firebird
Memory 43K Price £2 50

The Helm
Publisher Firebird
Memory 48K Price £2,50
****

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94

SINCLAIR USHR Augmt IW$

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Spellbound — Beyond

Starbike — The Edge

Kokotoni Will — Elite

The Pyramid — Fantasy

Horace Goes Ski-ing — Melbourne House/Psion

Gilligan's Gold — Ocean

Ant Attack — Quicksilva

3D Tank Duel — Real-Time

Jack and the Beanstalk — Thor

Sorcery — Virgin

and

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the hit single

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Available from all good software stores now. Price £4,99.

All proceeds to
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SINCLAIR L'SER Auguti WS5

95

Can the ghost
of Christmas
Past be laid
to rest? Bill
Scolding meets
the exorcists

LEAD-BLACK clouds are
massing in the east as we
J draw up outside the inno-
cent looking offices of a suburban
building society. I feel the hairs
rise on the nape of my neck.

Through a shabby unmarked
door, down an unlit alleyway and
up the creaky staircase. All too
quickly we are ushered into the
presence of the Feels, the obsessive
genius and his insanely loyal wife,
who together created ihe infamous
House of Legend and unleashed its
power upon an unsuspecting world.

John Peel — techno- freak and
dedicated eccentric — rises to greet
us. His eyes lurk behind glasses
thick as the bottoms of milk bottles,
his chin boasts a fluff of a beard, his
head a receding wisp of hair. He talks
and smokes incessantly.

Jan Peel, long dark hair and a wide
grin, keeps John in check, curbing the
excesses of his indiscriminating gos-
sip. As managing director she is very-
much in control, coping with adminis-
tration, sales and generally maintain-
ing contact with the real world; while
John, head of software, indulges in the
flights of fantasy which eventually see
the light of day as Legend games,

Pleasantries over, Peel is im-
mediately on the attack. "1 have to tell
you that I was Very Angry when 1 saw
your little piece in the May issue."

Oh God, Gremlin's got n wrong
again. Nothing else for it but to brave
the storm . . . "All that rubbish about
hiring a country mansion for the
programmers," Peel continues.
"Totally untrue." He waves his arms
about, taking in the small office, the
cartons stacked against the wall, the
overflowing desks and ashtrays.

''We didn't set out to con or hype
anyone with TGSR." TGSR — The
Great Space Race, a game you didn't
so much play as sit back while it
played with itself. Launched just be-
fore Christmas, it got a thumbs down
from the press, bombed in the shops
and left distributors howling.

"The programming team ran for
cover. We brought in a new team

which spent three weeks of sleepless
nights trying to get the shambles
working for the deadline," Peel ex-
plains, "But we let our main distribu-
tors see it. giving ihem the chance to
cancel or reduce their orders. They
were greedy and thought the game
would sell anyway.

"How we're offering Komplex at
reduced price to all those kids who
bought TGSR and weren't happy with
it. And we've done deals to bail out
distributors of all unsold copies. We
didn't have to, but we wanted to
regain credibility. We lost over
£200,000 on the game." On the office
wall a TGSR poster Looks down, the
curse which might have brought about
the fall of the House of Legend .

Peel lurches to his feet. "Come on,
let's see what Software is doing." Up
another flight of stairs to ihe garret of
Dave Ashe, artist, punk. All in black,
with studded black belt, black and

Jan and John Ptrf. nakty busmi

yellow hair, Ashe looks like a healthy
Ian Dury. He designs all the on-screen
graphics, the advertisements, posters
and logos, although Jan Peel retains
close creative control. Complicated
geometric shapes spiral across his
sketch pads and mouse-driven design
screens, the rough layouts for the
Komplex trilogy.

Ashe creates the images on a custo-
mised BBC and they arc then transfer-
red, via heavily expanded BBCs used
by the programmers next door, to the
Specirums and Commodores, Peel en-
thuses about the detail of the graphics.
"A full set of frames, for one rotating
object moving towards you, can take
24 frames or more depending on
flicker and over three days to draw ."'

At present the team is working on
Komplex City, part two of the trilogy,
due to be on sale at the end of June.
"Each game is complemeniary to the
others, though different," says Peel.

96

SINCLAIR USbR Augmi 198$

a

Legend of the
haunted house

"In a sense Komplex City should have
been launched first It's the fastest of
the games and involves Less map-
making ."

Nevertheless,, the program has the
potential for a mind- boggling quantity
of maps, running into trillions. Peel
explains, "Each map has a 12-
character name,, and as there are 37
possible characters — including the
alphabet and numerals — then , there
are 6,500,000,000,000,000,000 maps
which can be generated." Hmm,

Wc move into the programming
den, known as the PPC — the Per-
verts and Pillocks Club — where Colin
Foster and Dave Ebsworth sweat out
their days over the keyboards.

Ebsworth is fresh -faced and straight
from school: Colin, older but just as
clean, with an MSc in concurrent
operating systems. Like Ashe, both
sport Komplex T-shirts. For our be-
nefit, or is it a house rule?

Part of Komplex City is up on the
monitor; waves of 'flyngs' — PPC

criticism that it was too difficult in the
earlier game. Other improvements in-
clude a real-time clock. A scrolling
database keeps track of where your
targets are in the labyrinth.

The shelves around the room are
crowded widi boxes of discs and ring
binders, fat with code listings — the
debris of The Great Spate Race.
"Over £1000 of discs were used,"
moans Peel. "Most of it had to be
junked."

Was the game too ambitious? Colin
Foster pauses, creating the impression
that he is considering this for the first
time. "From what I've seen the prog-
rammers weren't op to it." Peel has no
such reservations. Brandishing a car-
ton he exclaims, "That's how profes-
sional I hey were. They were using
micTodrives!"

Will the ghost of TGSR ever be laid
to rest? Peel puts on a brave face. "As
a result of TGSR we came up with the
philosophy of visible development.

verbal shorthand for flying things —
hurtle down wireframe tunnels, Every
now and then a docking screen
appears, 'an assortment of interesting
gratuitous garbage*, as Peel puts it,
although it is not gratuitous at all. It
can replenish your energy levels and
hyperspace drive, or deplete them
further if used incorrectly.

Docking in Komplex City is easier
than in Komplex, apparently due to

Every day, if not every hour, progress
can be seen." In other words, you
don't leave it until the last minute to
discover you've hatched a turkey.

The Legend offices are crammed
full of hardware. Not just keyboards,
drives and screens, but extraneous
equipment too — miniature TVs,
complicated cameras. Spectrums are
in abundance — "They tend to break
down a lot," mutters Peel — but not
an Amstrad or MSX to be seen.

"We're not bothering with them,"
says Peek "It is mostly second league
software houses which are jumping for
the Amstrad because they can't com-
pete with the first leaguers on the
Commodore and Spectrum. We've
had Amstrad around here pestering us
to do things. We'd license products to
them for conversion but for us it's not
economic."

And the QL? "I wouldn't touch it,
mainly because I don't know anybody
who's got one," Peel says and then
adds, "Oh, except one of the TGSR
programmers — which says a lot."

We leave the black-garbed PPC and
go for lunch. The sky too is black now
and the air is heavy.

Several glasses of wine later wc are
treated to a potted history of the Peels.
In the years BC — Before Computers
— John Peel hacked it as a freelance
hi-fi journalist. "Faced with my 92nd
article on how to choose a record deck
I realised I was burnt out f " says Peel,

Was he ever confused with the well
known disc jockey? "Oh yes, got lots
of fan mail — and some very interest-
ing phone calls. One magazine had the
bright idea of a 'John Peel meets John
Peel' article. I met the guy, didn't get
on with him, so we got drunk instead.
By the time the photographer arrived
we were plastered. Worst photographs
ever taken."

Peel's first computer was a CBM
100 followed by a UK 101 When
Casio launched its handheld micro

(tmtmued tm /Wj

SINCLAIR USER Angmi 198S

Hit Squad

f onlirtm d from page 9?

Peel produced the English manual.

Peel formed MiCROL in Septem-
ber 1981; it was a bread and butter
operation j selling spreadsheets and
databases for portable computers,
"We knew the Spectrum was coming,
and the first MiCROL Spectrum ads
appeared the week of the press launch-
We didn't realise games were going to
he big but around Christmas '82,
when Quicksilva was advertising its
games, we knew it was the time for
games. We decided to go for an
adventure as the only professional
adventure at that time was The
Hobbit.

'Valhalla was masterminded from a
one-bedroom flat in Purley," Peel
continues. "Ii took three man years to
write, starting in March '83 } and was
ready in October, We didn't try to
contact any distributors; they had to
work hard to find us,"

Jan Peel designed the adverts, wrote
die manual and did the imaging for
the characters in Valhalla. An ex-
nurse, working in a boys' school, she
met John Peel through an ad placed by
her friends in the lonely hearts' pages
of Time Out, They arranged to meet;
Jan would be driving her red Mini,

John would be waiting on the comer,
"I got in, talked to the lady. We got on
fine," Peel laughs, "Trouble was, it
was the wrong red Mini . . . Jan had
got lost."

And now they drive a Porsche.

What do they feel of recent ani-
mated adventures, other computer
movies? "We coined the phrase 'com-
puter movie'," says Peel. "Imitation is
the sincerest form of flattery. There
are some products which command
real respect, like Tir Na Nog. I
greatly respect Ultimate's work, I
thought I was going to like Skool
Daze, but it was too complicated."

Jan Peel agrees. 1L lt had great detail,
I took at the characters, how they
move. But*" she confesses, "I hate
most games. So many are too difficult
to get into. Strange loop is a good
example of that type of game.*'

"Perhaps Komplex is too," adds
Peek "It's difficult striking a balance
between the karning curve and game
richness."

What about Valhalla 2? When will
that be released? Peel is cagey. "The
true follow-up will come later in the
year — another computer movie."
Will it include icons? Peel dictates
slowly, "You can say, 'From what

Peel said I suspect that it is likely that
Valhatti 2 will consist of mixed icons
and toft.' " Thank you, John,

Thar* is a sudden crack of thunder
and a flash of lightning is reflected in
Peel's glasses. "Right at this minute,"
he intones, "I can tell you what my
team is doing. They're furiously mak-
ing back-up copies to avoid mains
glitches getting through our power
smoothers."

Now there is a wall of rain outside.
The conversation grows darker, and
Peel holds forth on the evils of desig-
ner drugs and Santa Claus politics.
Drugs form the background to The
Novel he is writing, an apocalyptic
vision of the future about which, aiier
heavy hints from Jan Peel, he is
unnaturally reticent. The ram pours
down.

We leave the Peek and their
haunted house in a hot black summer
storm. The PPC are still beavering
away over their machines, Dave the
punk is drawing cabbalistic signs wiih
his mouse, John Peel is wandering
about in a wreath of cigarette smoke,
the invisible albatross of The Great
Space Rate about his neck, and Jan
Peel is smiling, in control. The
Legend goes on .

Nothing will affect you

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SINCLAIR USER August !9&S

UNBELIEVABLE!

MAKE THE MOST

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INTERFACE HI

THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS BEEN DONE

Yes its true mis fantastic new peripheral will transfer
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V All prOfranu reLOAO and RUN OK*

IF YOU HAVE A MICRODRIVE
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SEND TO- ITS.

33 F0SC0TE ROAD, LONDON NW4 3SE

MAIL ORDER ONLV

ORDERS UNDER £10 — INCLUDE 50p P&P
OVERSEAS ORDER — INCLUDE £1 PER ITEM

rVore the tallowing true -to -life features.

• - Full I !-a-*de ma(eh xwn

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72Sivanshope.
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S

7CROSSI

ypiif ownpl^yer^'

NB

AfSO availahletrom selecied

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♦including VIRGIN GAMES

CENTRE. 0*tord Streets 1

SINCLAIR

REPAIRS

BY THE

SPECIALIST

Walkers

COMPUTER 5EBV1C£

AND REPAIRS
TuLbi.:

Walkers will repair youi computer at a realistic

price.
You send a cheque not to Exceed £30.00 your
computer will be repaired and
returned the same day or send for a free quotation-
Most repairs will be in the range £15.0Q-£30.00
subject to machine.

For mformatiort

Telephone — 021-643-5474

or simply send your computer together with the
coupon below

Thomas WaUtet & Son Ltd, 58 Oxford Street, Binning ham BS 5NX

I PLEASE TICK

I □ CHEQUE ENCLOSED □ FREE QUOTE □ ACCESS CA f- 1

I MAME ^

I ADDRESS. , .

I
I

access no □□□□DnLiannnnnnnn

TELEPHONE NO.

SUB

SINCLAIR USER AuguU 193S

99

Explore the world ofSinc!a» v

Sinclair User, the monthly magazine, will
ensure that all ZX81, Spectrum and QL users
get the most from their computers.
Every month we include exciting games
programs, reviews on the latest software,
bench tests on hardware and peripherals, as
well as technical advice and development
news on Sinclair products.
Sinclair User interviews key people within
Sinclair Research, authors of top selling
games plus regular features on the
•^developments in the fast moving computer
*sA v industry.

We cover all aspects of Sinclair, for
beginners to enthusiasts right
through to business users —
%^\ Sinclair User will keep you in-
\%\ formed. So r don't miss out —
place an order with your
newsagent or complete
and return the coupon
below and we will
%A*V ensure that your
^VV N personal

$6 ? <l*\ monthly

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100

SINCLAIR USER Augua 1985

BE YOUR OWN computer artist with a terrific
package from Saga Systems of graphics tablet,
interface and graphics software. The GP graphics
tablet plugs into the Style interface and allows you to
draw pictures on the tablet with the included light pen.
Style incorporates both interface and software. The
interface contains an analogue to digital convener which
allows signals such as those generated by GP to be
converted. It doubles as a Kempston compatible joystick
interface, which means that you can use a joystick to
drive the software if you don't have the graphics tablet.
The software has all the standard features, such as fill
and circle commands, freehand or straight-line drawing,
as well as rubber- band boxes and triangles,

Saga Systems is giving away four prizes of the graphics
tablet plus Style, and 10 runners-up prizes of Style on its
own. With GP selling at £79.95 and Style at £29.95, that
makes a grand total of over £730 worth of prizes for the
lucky winners. Moreover, everyone who enters will
receive a £2.00 voucher redeemable on Style and a £5.00
voucher for GP, if bought direct from Saga Systems

THE PUZZLE

ALIENS are broadcasting a message to Earth,
The message consists of 341 pulses, some short,
some long, Converting the pulses to noughts
and ones, you get a string of binary digits,
printed below. They could be computer
graphics, so you draw a grid and decide to fill it
in — a space for zero and a black square for one.

Calculate what sized rectangular grid you need
to hold exactly 341 cells, and then fill it in. A
message will appear, and a clue to the alien
home planet Write the name of the planet and
the message, together with your name, address
and telephone number, on a postcard and send
it to Sinclair User, Priory Court, 30 32 Farringdon
Lane, London EC1R 3AU by Friday, August W.

The first four correct entries pulled from the
mailbag after that date will win the Saga GP
graphics tablet and Style, The next 10 will
receive copies of Style only. Employees of EM AP
or Saga are not eligible. Only one entry per
person is allowed.

f sssssssmgssssss sssassaass

SPEAK TO THE MICRO MEN FOR
YOUR SPECTRUM REPAIRS

Ml specnumi repaired tat WW* ■& + 6 1 .SO postage & pocking reaoKlleu onauir
by our lyny quollfted Btafl. M*mo*V *JWMSik 'a 4fiK carried out fop (usf £26 50 plw
£ 1 SO posiooe 4 pocluna

Spectrum*

III

ZX Printer*

111

KeyOpard Faults.

£12

prrhwrocB I

£10

infHfooe I

£15

M craonv*

111

Hhh rtChMMp El .90 Porta?* and hacking lor ndi Item wnl. AH frtC*HlP»#i tully
kt—wft lor pwturrt JOumey and oil wortc fWrjr puarupipaeJ.

So tOf Q Sotf ond reftoOlB service send your Specrrumi and p*npncwoU with a brleJ
Pe^o-^lo M , CROsMEN

im.n.

THE OLD ITTKET, MAW SJBEfT, * AftCET, PfTIBUOUOH PE7 IH
TBI. «7*JM*«"*

TRANS

MICRO-DRIVE TRANSFER UTILITY
48K Spectrum

Tunslorrner is in juinmilic MKrodrwr LWJty kx your 48K Sort (rum, Tpanslormer En-
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tooner TunAKiHr Is GUARANTIED lo put an end lo ifrc m#|on*y of your Microdrive
iratntet frfobtetm.

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102

SINCLAIR USER /lufffH /?«

Helpline

Defeating the
ZX attributes

Andrew Hewson explains why colour clash
occurs in the Spectrum screen display

IT IS NOW rather more man three
years since Sinclair User was laun-
ched. I have been writing Helpline
since then and it has been interesting
to observe the development in the type
of problems that you have asked
about.

The majority of questions now con-
cern the ZX Spectrum, and more
sophisticated than before. I have tried
to reflect that. I have, for example,
written several times in recent months
about controlling the interrupt sys-
tem, a topic which I would not have
considered in the early days.

However, even,' now and again I get
a flurry of letters concerning fairly
straightforward topics and so this
month I answer a few of those. Inter-
rupt fanatics also get a bit more
information at the end of the article.
Vipin Abrol writes from Kapurthala
in the Indian sub-continent: I bought
a Spectrum recently and the person
who sold it said it was a 64K
machine, but I did not know that a
64K version was manufactured, How
can I find out how much memory
there is?

The Spectrum has been manufac-
tured only in 16K and 48 K versions
and the Spectrum Plus only in a 48K,
I suspect that the machine in question
is really a 48K version because it
would then contain 48K of RAM
which, when added to the 1©K of
ROM present in all Spectrum*, would
yield the 64K value claimed by the
salesman.

The way to settle that is to look at
the value of the P— RAMT system
variable which is held at address 23732
and 23733. A 48 K machine, when first
switched on, will have the contents of
both addresses set to 255 so that
entering

PRINT PEEK 23752, PEEK 23733
will result in the following being
PRINTed:

255 255

The first value will be the same for a
16K machine but the second will he
127.

If you want the Spectrum to do all
the work then enter the following:

PRINT "This is a"; (PEEK 23733
+ l)/4 - 16; "K Spectrum."

The second letter comes from Tony
Braverman of Cambridge. I cannot
understand the Spectrum attributes
problems which occur when I use
The Illustrator program. Instead of
clearly defined areas of colour I get
character squares of colour intruding
into previously filled areas.

There is nothing you can do about
that kind of 'error' because it is an
inherent feature of the Spectrum de-
sign. To understand the reason why
the machine was designed in this way
it is necessary to think about the
problems associated with producing a
screen display.

The basic requirement of any com-
puter screen display is that it should
be capable of showing letters and
digits in a single colour on a uniform
background of a second colour. The
ZX-81 fulfils that function by display-
ing black characters on a white back-
ground. Up to 32 characters on each of
24 lines are permitted and as each

"How do you POKE

into the ROM so

that you can do

fancy letters?"

character requires one byte of memory
storage that means that at most 768
bytes of memory are required to store
the information displayed. The ZX-8 1
also uses one byte per line to mark the
end of each display line so that the
so-called display file occupies a total of
792 bytes of memory.

A monochrome, character-only,
display is very Limiting and so when
Sinclair produced the Spectrum the
company decided to introduce a high -
resolution screen. In the arrangment
selected each screen character is made
up of an 8x8 grid of pixels and the
status of each pixel — being either on
or off (that is either displayed or
invisible) — is determined by the
status of a corresponding bit in a byte
m the display file. As there are eight

# Pleas* address probiani *W qutriti to AitdmD
Hewson, Helpline, Graham Close. BltU-'sbury,
Oxfordshire*

bits in a byte each character requires
eight bytes of corresponding memory.
The Spectrum, like the ZX-81, can
display 24 lines of 32 characters and so
the Spectrum display Tile contains 8 +
24 * 32 = 6144 bytes. It is nearly
eight times bigger than the ZX-81
equivalent- Note that the 6144 bytes
contain only enough information to
produce a two-colour high resolution
display. A pixel which is illuminated
appears in the background colour —
usually white — and a pixel which is
not illuminated appears in the fore-
ground colour usually black,

The obvious way for the manufac-
turers to create a colour display is to
allow each pixel to appear in one of
several colours but a quick calculation
shows that this demands a great deal
of memory. Suppose that a four-
colour display was to be provided,
Each pixel would then require two bits
to store its status because two bits can
together be set in any one of four
states — both on, on and off, off and
on, both off. Thus a four-colour dis-
play requires twice as much memory
as a two-colour display.

An eight colour display requires
three bits per pixel. If Sinclair had
attempted to do that a total of 3 *
6144 = 18432 bytes would have to be
devoted to the Spectrum display,
more than the entire RAM space in
the original 16K machine.

continued on fmgt 104

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

103

Helpline

conimutd from page 103

To avoid that large memory re-
quirement the manufacturers opted to
use a low resolution colour system
based on character squares. Under the
system the colour of each character
square in the display is controlled by a
corresponding byte in the so-called
attributes file.

Each square can be set to any one of
eight foreground colours — the INK
— as determined by three of the bits
in the corresponding byte, and any
one of eight background colours —
the PAPER — as determined by a
further three bits in the corresponding
byte. The two remaining bits in the
byte determine the FLASH and
BRIGHT status of the square. That
ingenious system allows an eight col-
our display to be generated using a
further 768 bytes only — one byte for
each of 32 characters on 24 lines.

The disadvantage of this economical
use of memory is, as Tony has found
out, that it can be difficult to lay out a
colour picture on the Spectrum
screen, The scale of the problem
depends on the type of picture which
you wish to create. Cartoon images,
for example, can usually be adapted to
match the low resolution colour
boundaries. With a more sophisticated
picture it may be worth sacrificing
colour altogether so as to produce the
right effect-

The output of successful Spectrum
games companies is worth studying
because they make their living from
producing images which are pleasing
to the eye.

Pyjamarama from Mikro-Gen is a
good example of cartoon work de-
signed with the Spectrum low resolu-
tion colour screen in mind. The player
is more or less unaware of a colour
problem except when the moving fi-
gure passes across an object in the
background. Ultimate* on the other
hand, has opted in recent months for a
system where the game is played in
monochrome only with a small
amount of peripheral colour decora-
tion.

The Spectrum compromise is not
unreasonable for an inexpensive home
computer because it enables an eight -
colour display at a good resolution to
be generated from only 6K of mem-
ory. That compares well with the 16K
required by the Amstrad for a four-
colour display of rather better resolu-
tion and up to 20K required by the
much more expensive BBC. The only
machine which can fairly claim to do

distinctly better in performance in this
area, for a comparable price, is the
Commodore 64.

The low memory requirement of
the Spectrum has another particular
advantage which I doubt if the manu-
facturers considered when they were
designing the machine, but is of par-
ticular importance for a games
machine. It is that the display file,
being small, can be up-dated quickly
so that, all other things being equal,,
there is more scope for hectic screen
activity. It is a point which proponeots
of large sophisticated display systems
often overlook.

tored by entering

POKE 23607 »A
Doing so can be quite tricky !

Hence the most practical way to
create your own character set is to
copy the original into RAM and then
modify the copy by one character at a
time. The Basic program in figure one
shows how the copying can be done.

One final point is that the CHARS
system variable does not point directly
to the base of the character set itself
but to an address 256 bytes earlier.
Therefore the address of the base of
the character set is given by the
formula:

10 INPUT " ENTER BASE ADDRESS FDR NEW CHARACTER TABLE

20 LET V - 236 • PEEK 23606 + 236 * PEE* 25407

30 FDR I - TO 767

4r> PQKE It + I , PEEK ( ¥ + I )

SO NEXT I

I M

60

70

LET *

236

POKE 23607 , INT j W 236 ?

80 PQKE 23606 , X - 236 * INT < X / 236 i
Figure 1. A Spectrum program to copy the character table to a new location determined
by the user-

The next question also concerns the
Spectrum display. Andrew Surnpter
of Worksop asks: How do you POKE
graphics into the ROM so that you
can do fancy letters automatically?
It is not possible to POKE a number
into the Read Only Memory — ROM
- — or, to be more precise, you can try
but it will make no difference because
the number will not be retained. Thus
it is not possible to change the charac-
ter set stored in the Spectrum ROM,

Fortunately, the Spectrum does not
access its character set directly. In-
stead there is a system variable called
CHARS stored at address 23606 and
23607 which points to the address of
the beginning of the character set.
Thus the way to create fancy letters is
to create a new character set in RAM
and then alter the CHARS system
variable to point to the new set.

There is one pitfall to avoid. It is no
good changing the system variahle
before the new character set is created
and is in place because all the charac-
ters written to the screen will be
unintelligible and you will lose control
of the machine. To see the problem in
action try the following;

LET A = PEEK 23607

POKE 23607,0
All items PRINTed subsequently will
appear as a mass of smudges making
the screeo look like old blotting paper.
In principle the Situation can be res-

PRINT 256 + PEEK 23606 + 256
* PEEK 23607

The arrangement is not as strange as it
sounds because the first 32 characters
in the set are not PRIN Table and
therefore there is no entry in the table
for them. Each character requires
eight bytes for its definition and so the
first 8 * 32 = 256 bytes are "missing'
from the table.

Finally, as promised, a quick
answer for those readers interested in
the interrupt system. It is prompted
by a letter from Patrick Norris of
Worthing- He points out that: Use of
interrupt mode two with extra hard-
ware connected will cause a program
to crash. Why?

Patrick's problem is based on a
slight misunderstanding. Interrupt
mode two is specifically designed to
allow external hardware to direct the
execution of the Z80 microprocessor.
It does so by providing halt the data
for the address of the interrupt ser-
vice. Up to 128 interrupt routines can
be accommodated, each one tailored by
the programmer to the needs of the
interrupting hardware.

The Kemps ton joystick puts out
different values depending on the
setting of the joystick. It is necessary
for the programmer to ensure that he
places interrupt vectors at the
appropriate places in RAM to cope
with the situation.

104

SINCLAIR USER Axgutlim

See Micronet suu in action:

See Micronet at John Lewis, main Boots, Laskys or your local computer store

AVON
Rath. Bouts. I Mai-chanls, Passage,

Souir^ale. TeL 0225 64402.

BrisioL Avon Compuler Rentals

lb West Street, Old Market

Ttt 0272 55O6O0.

Bristol Boots, 59 Bmadmtad

Tel 0272 293631.

BrUinL iHaskys, 16-20 l^enn SlrerL

Tel 0272 20*11

C Uevedon. f lomnultr Centre,

1 2 A Old SlrKl, Clevedutt.

TeL 0272 M795U,

HHilORDSHLIlE
Bedford. Boots, 1 "he I larjHir Centre,
Harpur Sueet/1 et 0334 56211.
Luton Diiuine, Delapurt House,
; " ( , uddford Street Tel 058245 56611.

HIKKSH1RK
Slough. MV Games, 245 High

Street 1*1 7 ? 2159*.

lit < Xi.SH.HAVlMllRr.
Bletchley. RAMS Computer
I eatrc, 117 Queensway.
[ Tet OX* 647744
Chcsham. Reed Photo Si
Compuiers. 1 Li High Street
Ttt 0494 TK3J73

CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Cambridge- Hoois, 65-67 Sidney
Street andlii l > eltv Curry Street
let 0223 350213

Cambridge- Cambridge Computei
Store, 4 LmCfianucl Street
TeL 0223 358264

Peterborough-! -og*c Sales, Unit 6
Mjdgate Parade, Peierborough,
■[elWM 49696.
Peterborough. Boots
40-42 Hndgr. Street, Queensgale,
TeL 0733 653S2.

( III SIISHt.

Chester. Bums, +7-55 FurtgjttC
Sireet Tel 0244 2842!
Chester. Computer l-ink,2l Si.
Wcrburgh Street let 0244 31*5 lb,
Crcwc MidshirtJ Computer
Centre, 68-7S Narilwich Road
Tel 0270 21 ion*
Hyde C "lech Computer*, 184
.Market Street let (361-36* 8223.
Macclesfield, Camera Computer
Centre, US Mill Sired.
Tet 0*25 27468

Macclesfield. Cumpuier Centre,
68 Chestergalt Tet 0625 61B827.
VVarole, Mamie Cumpuier Centre,
106 Oiurthlane. TeL 06J-t4~ w»
Wilmslow, H ilmvlow Micro
Centre. b2 Grove Street

TcJ 0625 530890,

< lliVl.LAND
Darllnfrton. Darling* >n Computer
Shop, TSTlofuisiiLe. TS 0325 4*478.
Middlesbrough. Boots,
88-90 Untlwrpe (toad,
llie Cleveland Centre.

TcL 0642 249616.

CLMURIA
Kendal The Kendal Computer
( enit-e, Siramongate
Tet WW 22559.
Penrith. Fcnnth Communications,

14 Cattlcgalc. Tet 0768 67144
Whitehaven. P D Hendrcn,

1 5 King Street 1 eL 094b 2€&1
Workington, I echr»c4ogy Store,

] 7 Kink* f Street, let Op 6*972. .
DERBYSHIRE

Airman, Cordon Harwoad,

47-71 Hish Street TeL OBJ 832B7S,

Chesterfield- Roots. 35-37 Inw

Pavement, Market Place.

TeL 0246 203591

Chesterfield. Computer Stores*

|+ Stephenson Place

let QMS 2DB8U2.

Derby, Boots, 1 Devonshire

WafcTct 0311 45816.

ESSEX
Basildon. Basildon Software
Centre, ?M0 I Jbenv Shopp 10 *
1 1 all East Square 1 eL 02 » 27922.
Braullree- Mirage MJcpxnmpuiers
Lid 24 Bull Street, Tel BJW 48121
Chelmsford Maxim iEavman,
S Hnomfieid Read. Tet 0245 354595.
Chelmsford. Way In Computer*,
7 Village Square, Yd 0245 +678.58.
Colchester. Bodes, 5-6 IJon Walk.
TeL 0206 577303.

Colchester. Colchester Computer
Centre, 3a Short WW Street
let 0206 47242.

Geays. II. Reynolds, 28 a Southend
Roil Tet 0375 31641.
Harlow. Harlow Computer Centre,
17 Staple Tve. TeL 027*? 22S46.
Elorneburcb. Compiel Computer
SvstemS, I ] 2a North Street,
TeL 0402 446741.

llforiL Boots, 1 77-1 H 5 High Road.
Tel ul 553 211b
Homfwd. Software Plus,
72 Korth Strm. Tet 70 65271.
Southend-on-S«a- fiomralellO*
M l-ondun Road, Tet 0702 335443.
Snullicad-on-Stt- Cumpuier
Centre, 336 I-tfndon Road
Tet 07(12 3171*1.
Suuthend-on-Sra- K>.iLia.r\'
Personal Computers, 3i* ("hartwell
North, Victoria Circus Shopping

Ccfiire, lei 0702 6141 31

liLUVGESIEK

Cheltenham, l-askys, 206 High

Street TeL 0242 57U2S2

Cheltenham. Screen, Scent,

144 St O eurutt Road.

Tet 0242 S21H79.

Gloucester. Soots, 3H-4* l'.asl);a(e

Slreel. Tel: 0152 423501,

HAMPMIIK.I-.
Hasinesloke, htstier^ 2-3 Marltet
I'LaceTTt-t 0256 2307*
PctersfleLd. l ; <Ay Mi£j™,
45 Chapel StrttLlel (173066841.
Portsmouth. Micro Choice,
159 Havani Kuad, Drayton,
TtL Q7fli 32759 1.

Portsmouth- RDS liletlrtCat, 157
161 Kirucloii Road, 1 l*LITWSI247».
Southamplun- Btfiiness
Electronio, Mjtrurtwgjc A1 Atkins,
7 Civic Centre Ro»d, TeL (J701 25903
Waierlonville. CM Mtsroland.
7 Queais Parade, London Road

TeL (170^ l^n L.

HH»TFORI>
PoTlers Bar. thE Computer Shop
107 HighStreeL Tet 0707 444L ■.
Stev«n.age. DjCooputen,
1 1 To*r?Scjuare. Tet W38 65501.
Walford. SRS Mjcrosssi ems^
^4 The Parade, E-ta^h Sweet
Tet 0°23 2mil
Welvyn tiardeii Cily. D)
CompulrtSj 40 l-relheme Road

Tttfr07 32M4 ^_^

Ml MM I kMI'i
Bevefky. Commiling World,
10 .Swabys ^'artV Dyer I JMtc
ret 04K2 88.1831.

Preston, *Mat Ompulnnt

67 tnarjpite. id 077? 561952.

Preston. l^isktS 1-4 ( iuildhall

Arcade TeL 0772 59264

Wi«n. Wilddnic* Computer Centre,

|] MeinesSlrcej Tel TrM2 223«2.

LElCESTEHSIIIHh
l^iceslcr. Boots, 30-5* Gallowtret
(.ate. TeL 0533 21641.
Market tlBrbtrroujdt- Harborough
IJiiim- ( "omputers, ' Church Street
Ttt 0«5S 631156-

LO

nevow

Hielcr, Boots, 25 1 High Street,

I eL 0392 32244.
titter, Open Channel,
Central Suiitwv Queen Slrtet.
Il'LH.W21B1B7.

Puicnioa, Computer Swam Lto,
3S rfvde Road TeL OHO? 524284.
Plymouth. SyiniaiL, 76 Cornwall
Slrtet, let 0752 2*705.
ScalOD. Curtis Computer Scrvi«4,
Sealon Computer Shop,
<lc Hartour Rood T*V0297 22347
Tiverton, Artron Mictocomputers,
37 bj^onSireejJc^0B84 252854.

DORSET
EVntraecaouLh. Lansdkm,Tie
Computer CenTft, I Inansdown*
CfCKSIt, L atlM kMW M
Ttt 0202 2901*5.
t>orchc«tef . The Paper Shop,
Kings Koad T«* 0305 54564.
Poole- I JEisiiowne Computer
Centre, 14 Amdale Centre.
Tet 0202 670901.

Astafuru, LXiH, lu-Nonh Sweet
TeL 0233 32597, ^

iVhhford G«nnc? ol Ashlord,
80 HieJi Sweet "let 0233 33166,
Bromley, Boots, 148-154 High
Street TeL 01-460 66SS
Bromley, Computers 1 odav.
31 .vVarfcet Square.
Chatham. Boots, 30-34 * ilmotl
Sjuare, Pentagon Centre.
TeL 0*14 405471.
Gi-avcacnd. Gravesend Home
Computers, 39 The Terrace.
let 0471 2387 1.
GiLllnfhajD. Regal Sotiware
Supplies, 4V Hifih Suwt,
Tel0bJ4 57963T
MAidslone- Hoots, 56-62 King,
Street. Tet 0622 53912.
Maidstone. Kent ,Vltcros,51 L.niOfl
StreeL Tet 0622 52784.
Rainham, Microwav (^ompuleri,
34 High Strett TcL 0634 J76702.
Srveiioa fcs. l\ mtSI Fielder
Ci>mpjiei*s, Dorset StreeL
T'rt 0732 4S&800.
Shortlands. Hie Village Hotnc
of Compuiers, 87 Beckenham l-ute
Tet 01-4*0 7122,
Sitiinsbourne- Computer Plus,
^ High SutcL Tet 07V5 25677.
Tunbridge Wells. Modala
Cotnpuler Centre, 28' Kl St [ohns

Road Iet0892il555,

UtNCASIBJtE
UlackpvoL Blackpool Computers
Store,] 79 Church Street
let 0253 20239.

Burnley, IMO Business SyiienU,
ly^ll Stand ish S(recL
let 0942 44382-

Wl. Computers <M « Igmore
Siren. 104 Wigmore Street
Tet Ol 486 0373.

Wl. I-askvs, 42 Tommham Court

Road Ttt : 01-636 n«45.

Wl. Lion House, 227 Toiienlam

Court Road TeL 01-637 1601.

Wl. Sonic FOAO Micro (jenler,

256 Totlenham Cog rt Road.

Tel HI -5*0 582*.

Wl, Tmramra's Work Today,

2~ Onfftrd Street I'd 01 4»7799

WT. WiitcnCannuten, 1 >H Evona,

Oii. >t,i Si reeL Tef 01 -629 HSflO.

WC1. Transam Micro Sysienu,

59-6] TheobaldH Road

Tel Oi-405 5240.

W5. Laskys, |!H9 lialine Bn»d*av

Shopping Centre, let 01-567 4717

W8, Wallers Computers, barkers

Kensington High Sireet

Tet SPB7 5433,

SB7, Vic Oddens Micros,

5 London Bridge Walk.
TeL (11-403 1988.

SP,fl. Square Deal,

373-375 Lootscray Road,

New Ehham let 01-859 1516.

SEIS- Castlehuru Ltd, 1 52 Rye

Lane, Peckham Tet 01-639 2205-

EC2. Dtsron ( "ompu ter Centre-,

1 55 Moorgstc. tet 01-638 3339,

N14. LoKirSak*, 19 llie Bourne,

'The Broadway, Squtheate.

Tet 01-882 4942,

NJ2. Boots, 38-40 High Road,

Wood Green. Tet 01-881 OlOl

XWJ. .%Vavcrafl MisTus,

58 Rossh-h Hilt Hampstead

let 01-431 1 3<X)

NW4. Davinci ( "omputer Store,

112 iirent Sireeu Hendoa

Tel ill -202 2272.

NTW7. Computers, IiW, 86 Ciolders

Green Tet Ol- 309 0401.

NW1Q. Technontauc, 17 Bumkv

Road, Wembley. TeL 01-208 1177.
mam:hkster

Bolton- ( : omputer Work I K I id

208 Chorley Old Road

Tel 0204 494104,

Manchester, Hoots, 32 Market

Street, let 061-832 6533.

Manchester. Laskys, 12-14 St

Maryi G#IC 'I eL 061-831 0268.

Manchester. Miphtv .VulTO,

Sherwood ("em re, 268 Wilmslou

Road, K»llosvneld Tet 06 1 -224 8 1 1 7.

Manchester- NSC Computer

Shops, 29 Hanging Ditch

TeL 061-832 2269.

Manchester. Wallers Computers,

Kendal Milne, Deans-gale,
let 061-832 3414.

Oldham. Home & Business

Compuiers, 54 Yorkshire St reet

Tet 061-633 IMW.

Swiniurt, S\s Micro, 69 I'lrtinglOfl

1 jut Tel Q61-72S 22j&

NOTTTNtillAMSHlRE

Newark. Jacobs Computers

13 Middle die I eL fc.Je 1 25'*i

Notringhairl. Tetetar, 2B0 1 lurdihgdon

StreelTet 0602 XB5S5.

Sutton in Ashlield UN" i t. I'ishtr.

87 Outram Street. Jet (1623 54714.

Worksop. Cumpuier Grahx,

32 H 1 vJge Strett Tet (>TrJ 47224S.
OXKORL>SIIIKt:

Abingdon. Ivftr Fields Compolert,

21 Stent SlreeL lei 0235 21307.

Banbury. Computer Plus,

2 Church Lane Tet 029S 551fiO.

Oxford- Absolute Sounder Video,

19 Old High Street, 1 1 radulgioa

Tet 0865 65661-

Oxford Science Studio, 7 l-itlle

Clar endon Street, Tet 0665 54021
MOTION I)

Aberdeeo. Bools, 133-14] Union

Street Tet 0224 585349.

Edinburgh, Boots, 101- 103 Princes

StreeL Tel 031-225 8111.

Guubtow, Boots, 200 Sauchichall
Si reel Tel; 041 -332 1925.

Gbuaxn*. Boola, Union Street
and%yle StrttL Tet (MI -248 7387
Gla.»aw L Torn I Jnun Cameras,
15'17/Qiipeen Street
Tet tH-T-204 0826.

SHROPS1IB3J1

Shrewsbury, f'laimmnl
l'jtterpnses.Tlill4 I ant
TcL 3M7 52949.

Shrewsbury. Cumpuierama, 13
Cihi legate. TeL 074} W 1 ! 2K.
Telford, ("omputer %'illage Lid
23 Haiddine 1 louse, Central
Square TeL 0952 506771.
Telford- J elford iilettromCS,
IS Mill 4. I el 0952 50491 1
SrAFFORDSHIRI':
NcwcHslle-under-l yoac.
Computer Cabin, 24 The Parade,
SiLverdale. Tet 0732 636911.
Stafford Compulrrama, 59
Foregaie StreeL Tet 0785 41 8W-
Stoke-on-TrenL Compuierama,
1 1 Market Square Arcade, Hanlev.

Tet 0782 2b8524

SI hVtll K
Bury St- Ldmunds, Booti,
11-13 C<«Tihill let 0284 701516.
Kur\ Sl Fidmunds, Suffolk
Computer Cent re, 1-1 (iarland
SurtL Tet 0284 705 503.

[ton
Street

Sl'RRl-i

.HI.KShVhllH
He^wiilL ETiorn guard Computer
Svitrms, 46 l'ensbv Road
Ttt OS 1-342 7 5 16.
LtverptmL Hargreaves, 31-37
WarbreCk Moor, wallctn.
let 051-525 1782.

St- Helens. Microman Compuiers,
Rainford Indusirial F-Siate, Mill
Lane Kainford TeL 0744 8852+2.
SouihenrL Central Studios,
?S Eartbank StreeL TeL 0704 31881.

L %4i™i.BaB3L_
Kuiicld. Laskvs, 44-48 Palace
(iarden StMropirie Cenlre-
Tet 01-363 6^27,
Harrcnr. Harrow Micro, 24
Siinne+'eld Road TcL 0.1-427 OTO*.
Ilounslow, Boots, 193-199 High
Streel Tet 01- 570 01 S6
SouthalL I wdlstarCompulera. Ltd,

7 RettoaRoad Jet 01 574 5271.
Teddington. Andrews, Broad
Street Tet 01-997 4716.
Twickenham. Twivkcnham
Computer Centre, 72 Heath Road
TeL 01-892 7896.
U abridge. JKL Computers,
7Wind»r Slreel Id 0895 51 M 5

NORFOIK
Norwich. Adams, 12S-129 King
StreeL TeL 0603 22129.
1 helford, Ihetford CB & MhTos,
21 Guildhall Street let 0842 61645

BajTshot V 4V H Flectiwua, 22-24

Guudlord Road TeL 027* 71078.

Croydon. |jwkys,77-8l North End

let 01-681 844 J

Crovdoo. The Vision Store,

5 J- 59 High Stretl TeL 01-68* 63*2.

< :roydon. The Vision Store,
9^98 North End Tet 01-681 7539.
South Croydon. Concise

< :ompulcr Consultants, I ( larlton
Road let OI-08 1 6342
Eptocn, Ihe .Micro Workshop,

12 Station Approach.

Tet 0373 mm,

Guildford. Walters Computer*,
Army 01 Navy, 105-11 1 High SureL
TeL 0481 68171
WaJlingtOn. Surrev Mktu Svslems.

1 3 WoocW Road TeL 01 -647 5636.
Wnhing.Harpers.7l73

,1^.^10486 225657.
SUSSEX
Be«.hiil-on-SeB, Cornputerware,
W$\ l^onardiRoad
let 0424 223140.

Brighton. Boots, 129 North Street.
Te±TO73 271W3L

Brighton. Garner, 71 Fast StreeL
Tet7E73 728681.

Hrighton. Laskys, 1 5 1 -IS 2 Weslem
Roal I eL 0271 725625
Crawley. Galwick Computers,
b? Ihe Boulevard Tel 0293 17842.
Crawley. I askvs. 6-8 Queens wa\
Tet Q29? 544621

Eaitbounie- Hoots, 1? Lastboumt
Arrtdik Centre. 1 et 3232 7742,

. TTVNb* WfcAJt
.Newcastle-upon-Tyne, [kjots.
F.ldon Square. Tel 1*12 329844.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Laskys,
Norihumbenand Street
Tet 0632 617224.
Newcasl le-upon-Tyae.
RE Contpuling, 12 Jesmnpd Road
TeL 0632815580.

Cardift Randall t.uju IX 2 J High
Street Arcade, let 0222 397162
Mold. CI* yd E'ersonal Computers, |
Cnil 19, Daniel Owen Precinct,
Id 0152 56842,
Newport. Gwcnt ("ompulcrv
92 CSepSfflW Road 1 eL 11)611841760,
Swansea. Hoots, 17 St Maryi
Aivadc "I he Quadrkiril Shupptng
Centre. Tet 0792 43461.
Swansea. Hie Microstore, 35-36
Smgk too Sweet Te t 0792 4S7im.

W.UtwiLitk.SHUUE
Coveatry. Coventry Micro Centre,]
33 Fir i iosford StreeL
Tet 0003 5»r»42.
Coventry- Impulse Computer
World. 60 Hertiord Slreel Prectnct '
Tet 0203 "^ T 1.
Coventry. J LW : Micrn Semces, 4
Barbdon Avenue, North larlldoa
I el (1201 73813.

Covcnliy. Laskys, l^wcr l'recuxt.1
■let CO® 77712

Leamington Spa. 1 C C on ipulers. I
41 RusselTSlrret. Tet 0926 16244
Leamington Spa, [ eamutcto
Hobby (entn, f2! Regent Sir
TeL 0936 29211
Nuneaton. Micro City, la Queens
Road let 0201 382049.
Rdgby.0.rLM. t 9-ll Regent Street
Tef 0788 705 22.

HIMMIIH.AMIS

Birmingham. Boots, City Centre
lluusc J*-!" 7 New Street
let 021-643 7581
Birmingham. 1 -»kyy 19-21
( MU HM M Slrrci
U-l f H 1-612 o»)
Dudley, Central Computers
35 Chorchsll Prccintl
TeL 0384 238 169.
Stourbridge, Wallers Computer
Systems. 1 2 Hagjev Road
TeL0lB4 37l>lir

WalialL New Horuon, I Goodall
Street TeL 0*22 202L
West Bromwiih. OS Peakunan,
7 Queens Squair. Tel (Hl-525 79t0,|

VOkKSIMHt

Bradford- Booty ] 1 I lariev Street
Tet 0274 390X91.

Leeds. Boots, 19 Alb™ Arcade,
Bond Street Centre,
let 0512 1155L

ShclTield ljskvv 58 letipok
Sireet Pel 07427310971
Turk, ^'ork ( iurair-uler ( .mitt,
7 SltHieoaic Arcade.
TeL 1)904641862

WALES

Aberdare. lnkev Computer
Services, 7[f .Md I Street, llie Square,
Trecytwa let 0685 881828,
Aberystwyth, Aberdata at
( jallowavs, 23 Pier Street
TeL 0970 61 5522.

Cardift Boots, 26 Queens Street

Si 105 Frederick Street

lei 1022 31291

micronet

Phone 01 -278 3143 for your free information pack now!

Micronet 800. 8 Herbal Hill, London EC1

THE Gilbert Factor has been replaced by a Star
rating, the basis of which is value for money.
Programming, graphics, speed, prtwattrion
and addictive qualities are taken into account,
Guide to ratings;
*****24 carat. Buy it
***#Varuc for money
***Nothijvg special
* *Over-prked
*A rip-off

SPECTRUM 1GK

Adventure

Planet of Death

Arcade

Arcadia

Arcadian

Black Hole

Blind Alley

Cosmic Guerilla

Crazy Cranes

Crevasse and Hotfoot

Cyber Rats

Death Chase

Earth Defence

Escape

Fire Flash

Fruit Machine

Galaxian*

Gnasber

Godzilla and Martians

Ground Attack

Horace and the Spider*

Horace Goe* Skiing

Hungry Horace

Invasion Force

Jit Pac

Luna Crabs

Maze Chase

Meteor Storm

MeteoroKis

Mil in MoU««

MiUypede

Mined Out

Mr Wong's Loopy Laundry

M Line her

Orbitcr

Pengy

Planetoids

Proteus

Rider

Road Toad

Sentinel

Sheer Panic

Sil Lancelot

Space Intruders

Space Raiders

Spec. Scramble

Spectipcde

Spectral Invaders

Spectral Panic

Strike Four

Tank Battle

Train Game

Winged Warlord

Yomp

Business

Finance Manager
Statistics II
Survey II
Vu-Qdc
Vu-File

Education

Chess Tutor

Estimalur Racer
Firework Music
Integration
Money

Number Fainter
Regression

Language

Beta Basic

Artie

3*

3*
3*

3*
4+
4+
3*
4*
4*
J*
3+
4*
3+
3+
3*
2*
4*
3+
4*
3*
4*
4*
5+
4*
4*
4*
4*
1*
4*
4*
3+
3*
4*
2*
J*
3+
3+
4+
4*
4*

Melbourne House 4*
Quicksilva 4*

Sinclair 3*

Work Force 4*

MastertronjC 3+

Bug- Brie 4#

llrwsun 3*

Spectresoft 2*

dJVtronics 4+

Microsphere S+

CDS 3*

Virgin 4*

Beau Jally
J K Grey*
Quest
Sunshine

Crystal

Voyager

Microsphere

Silvers a ft

Mkrtimcga

Artie

New Generation

Abacus

DK"tn»Jcs

Artie

Mastertronic

Temptation

SiNersoft

Sinclair

Sinclair

Sinclair

Artie

Ultimate

Micromega

Hewson

Quicksilva

DK'tronics

l.rjthltirien

Add-on

Quicbsilva

Artk

Silvern* ft

Silrersoft

Micromania

Sinclair

Abacus

Virgin

DK'tronics

Abacus

Visions

Practical

Countries of the World
Cycle Planner
Map of the UK

Puzzle

Flippit
Hanoi King

Laps
Nowotnik Puzzle

Simulation

Air Traffic Controller

Airliner

Golf

NightFlite

Print Shup

Pro^Golf

Strategy

Dallas
Dictator

Heathrow

Traditional

Bridge Tutor
Bridgcm.istcr
Las Vegas
Pool
Rcversi

Utility

Auto Somes
Basic Utilities
Dietron
Disassembler
Editor ''Assembler
Extended Basic
FP Compiler
Friendly Face

Letterfonl

Machine Code Test Tool

Master Toolkit

M Coder

Print Utilities

Slow Loader

Sound FX

Spec, Editor Assembler

Spec Monitor

Spectrum Super Toolkit

Supercode

Trace

OCP
E ridge

Lotos

Sim-lair
Sinclair

Artie

Psion

Suit Cottage
University

Poppy

Psion
University

Ik'wwn

Medidata
Kuma

Sinclair
Contrast
Virgin
Phipp*

Hewson

Frotek

Virgin

Hewson

CCS

Hornby

CCS

DK'tronics

Hewson

CP Software

Serin

Temptation

Bug-Byte

Sinclair

Buttercraft
Jaysoft

Custom

DK'tronics

Picturesque

CP Software

Softck

Monitor

Allansoa

OCF

OCP

PSS

Sinclair
ELR

DK'tronics

Picturesque

Picturesque

Nectariae

CP

Teigate

TLmcdata

SPECTRUM 48K

Adventure

4+
2*

4*

4*
4*
2*
4%

3+
3*
4*
3*

4*
4*

1*
4*
4*

4*
5*
3*
4+
4*

3*
3*
3*

4*
4*
4*
5*
4#
4*
4*
4*
4*
4*
5 +
3+
4*
4+
4*
4*
4*
4*

Betasofi

5*
1 +
3*
4*

4*

4*
4*
4*
4*
4+
4*
4*

5*

Abyss

CCS

3*

Adventure )

Abersoft

J*

Alchemist

Beau Jolly

4*

Amulet

Sentient Software

2*

AshkerOri

Mirrors oft

3*

Assignment East Berlin

Sterling Software

2*

Atlas Assignment

Virgin

4*

Black Crystal

Mastervision

4+

Black Planet

Phipp*

4+

Bored of the Rings

Delta 4

94

Castle Blacfcstar

SCR

4*

Classic Adventure

Melbourne House

4*

C II Hill

Phipps

4*

Colossal Caves

CP Software

4*

Confidential

Radar Games

4*

Crystal Frog

Sentient Software

3+

Curse of the Seven Faces

Imperial Software

3+

D. Mouse en Black Forest

Creative Sparks

4*

Demon Lord

MCE

3*

Detective

Arcade

4*

Diamond Quest

CCS

2*

Diamond Trail

TUllifl

4*

Donmdark's Revenge

Beyond

5*

Dungeon Master

Crystal Comp-

4*

Dungeons of Doom

TemptatJon

2*

El Dorado

Atlantis

4*

Emerald Isle

Level Nine

4+

Erik the Viking

Level Nine

4*

Espionage

Modular Resources 2*

Espionage Island

Artie

i*

Eureka

Dumark

3*

Everest Ascent

Shepherd

3*

Eye uf Bain

Fantasia Diamond

Flight from the Dark

The Fourth Protocol

Frankie goes to Hollywood

Frog Face

GhouUcs

Golden Apple

Gremlins

The Great Space Race

Halls of Things

Hampslcad

Here comes the sun

Heroes of Kara

Hobbit

lee Slalion Zero

Inca Curse

Inferno

Invincible Island

Island

Jericho Road

The Jewel of Power

Jewels of Babylon

Jungle Adventure

Kent il Id

Key of Hope

King Arthur's Quest

Knight's Quest

Leopard Lord

Lords of Midnight

Lords of Time

Mad Martha

Malice in Wonderland

The Magic Sword

Mountains of Ket

Murder at Manor

Odyssey of Hope

Oracle's Cave

Ore Slayer

Paradox

Perseus and Andromeda

Pi mania

The Prince

The Prisoner

Project X

Quest

Quetzaltodll

Re turn of the Joystick

Return to Eden

Runeslane

Runes of ZcndOs

The Sandman Cometh

Satan's Pendulum

Scoop

Sc-Kaa of Assiab

Sherlock

Ship of Doom

Snowball

Spoof
Supers py
System 15000
Temple of Vrap

The Final Mission
The Talisman
The Wild Bunch
Tir Na Nog
Titanic

Tower of Despair

Transylvania* Tower

Twin Kingdom Valley

Underworld

Urban Upstart

Valhalla

Vampire Village

Yclnur's Lair

Volcanic Dungeon

War of the Worlds

Wardor

Width of the World

Arcade

A Day in the Life
A View to a Kill
Ad Astra

Adven- of a Si Bernard

Airwolf

Alcairax Harry

Alien 8

Android Two

Anl Attack

Artie 4*

Hewson 4*

Hutchinson 4*

Century. Hutchinson 5*

Ocean 5*

Positive [mage 4*

IMS Software 4*

Artie 4*

Adventure lot 1 *

Legend 2#

Crystal Comp- 5 +

Melbourne House 5*

AUigata 4*

Interceptor J*

Melbourne House S*

8th Day 3*

Artie 3#

Shepherd 4*

Shepherd 4*

Crystal 2*

Shards 4*

Stagger Software 4*

Interceptor 2*

!t.S 2*

Micromega 3*

Games Workshop 4 *

Hill MacGifebo* 2+

Phipps 3*

Add-on 2*

Beyond S*

Level Nine 4*

Mikro-Gen 4*

Sentient Software 3*

Database Pubs 3*

Incentive 4*

Gemtime 4*

Martech 3*

Dork 4#

Gamma Software 3*

Runesofi I*

Channel 8 4*

Automata 4*

CCS 4*

Spool Software 3*
Compass Software 4 *

1 1 1. u snii 4*

Virgin 4*

Delta 4 3*

Level Nine 4*

Games Workshop 4*

Dorcas Software 3*

Star Dreams 4*

Minatron 4*

Sentient Software 3*

Mastervision '*

Melbourne House 5+

Artie 4*

Level I 5*

Runesofi 4*

Shepherd 3*

Craig Comm. 5*

Incentive 4#

Incentive 4*

Games Workshop 4*

Firebird 2*

Gargoyle §*

R&R I*
Games Workshup 3*

Shepherd 3*

Bug-Byte 4*

Orpheus 3*

Shepherd 4*

Legend 5*

Terminal 2*

Quicksilva 4*

Mastervision 3*

CRL 2*

IMS Software 2*

Muaaic 1+

Micromega 4*

Domark 4*
Gargoyle Games 4*

Mastertronic ; *

Elite 2*

Mastertronic 1*

Ultimate 5*

Vortex 5*

Quicksilva 5+

106

SINCLAIR USER AMgua 198S

Software Directory

Archon

Arena 3000

Armageddon

Aatronut

Atic Atac

Automania

Aval cm

Base Invaders

Bank Zone

■agaa

Beach Head
Bear Bower
Birds and Bees
Black Hawk

Blade Alley

Blue Mu

Blue Thunder

BMX Trial*

Booty

Boulder Duh

Brian Bloodaxe

Brian Jack's Challenge

Bristle*

Bruce Lee

Bugaboo

Bint Off

Caesar the Cat

Carnival

Carpet Capers

Cauldron

Cave ton

Centipoid Plus 3

Chaos

The Chocolate Factory

Chequered Flag

Chinese Juggler

Chuckle Egg

Chuckie Egg II

Chuefcmari

Close- In

Codename Mai
ConfiizioD
Corridur* ol Genon
Crusoe
Cyclone

Daley's Decathlon

Ariolasofl 2*

Micrudeal 3*

Silversoft 2+

Software Projects 4*

Ultimate i*

Mjcru-Gen 3*

Htwson 5*

Wort Force 3+

Quicksilva 3 +

Alan Firminger i*

US Gold 4*

Artie 4+

Bug-Byte 4*

Creative Sparks 4*

PSS 3*

US Gold 3*

Foundry Systems 3*

Lainlan Sail ware 2 +

Firebird 4 +

Front Runner ?*

The Edge 4*

Martcch 2*

StaTcsOfl 3*

US Gold 4*

Quicksilva 4+

Ekctric 3+

Mirrorsolt 4*

Eclipse )■*

Terminal ^*

I'.il.u-- 5*

Ocean 4 +

Orwin 3*

Games Workshop 4+

Hill MacGibbon 3+

Sinclair ^ *

Ocean 3*

A&F 3*

CO Addon 4*

PuLsouic 2*

MictOitiega 5*

Incentive A*

New Generation 5*

Automata 3*

Vortex 4*

Ocean 5*

Dangcrmuuse in D. Trouble Creative Sparks 4*

Death Chess 5000 Artie 4*

Death Star Interceptor System 3 I*

Delusion Incentive J*

Delusion.' Worms K I el 2*

Demon Chase Mansfield 2*

Deut Ex Machina Automata 5*

Devil Rides In Mastertronic 1 *

Dimension Destructors Artie 4-*

Dodge City Phocn.ii 4*

Don't Buy Th» Firebird 2+

Dr Franky and the Monster Virgin ) *

Dragonfire Cheetahsofl 3*

Dragonlorc Hewson 4*

Driller Tanks Sinclair 2*

Drive In Fantasy 2*

Energy 30,000 Elm 2*

Eric and the Floaters Sinclair 3*

Everyone's a Wall? Mikni'Gtn 4-*

Exodus Firebird 2+

Falcon Patrol II Virgin I*

Falkland* Crisis Lainllu Software 2*

Fantastic Voyage QtlkksiJva ' *

Frank N Stein PSS 4*

F-n-d Quicksilva 3*

Front Loop NTD Software 3*

Galaxy Attack Sunshine 2+

Ghostbusters Actmsion 4*

Gbosl Rider Positive Image 2+

Giant'* Revenge Tbor 2*

Gift from tbe Gods Ocean 3*

Gilligan'sGold Ocean 3+

Glass Qukksitva A*

Gluf. Gtug CRL 3*

Havoc Dynavision 1 *

Harry Goes Home PuKmiic 3*

Helicboppcr Firebird 2 *

Hellfirt Melbourne House 4*

Herbert's Dummy Run Mikro-Gen A*

Hickslead CCS 2*

High Noon Wort Force 5*

Hunchback Ocean 4*

Hunchback II Ocean 3*

Hypcrsports Imagine 4*

Icicle Works

Invasion Body Snatch.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Jasper

Jet Set Wily

Jump Challenge

Killer Knight

Knight Lore

Kokotoaj Will

Komplev

Krakatoa

Kung-fu

Laser Zone

Lascrwarp

Lazy Jones

Lea Flics

Locomotion

Lode Runner

Loony Zoo

Lunar Jelman

Magic Roundabout
Manic Miner
Matrix.
Mariacs
Metagalaclic Llamas

Mighty Magus
Minder

Mission Impossible
Mission Omega
Monkey Biznes
Moon Crests
Moons ol Tantalus
Manly is Innocent
Mr Wimpey
Mummy Mammy
Munnery's Mergalroids
Mutant Monty
New Cylon Attack
Nicotine Nightmare

S'lRht Gunner

1994

91 ITS

Olympimania

Orion

Paw*

Pedro

Ptnetralur

Pi-Balled

Pi-Eycd

Pitfall II

Potty Pigeon

Psi-Spy

Pssst

Psytron

Pyjamaranta

Pyramid

Rapscallion

Reactor

Statesofl
Crystal
Thor
Micromcga

2*

5*
3*
3 +

Software Projects 5*

Martech 3 *

Phipps 3 *

Ultimate 5*

Fiiic 3*

Legend 2 *

Ah ben 4*

Bug-Byte 3*

Quicksilva 4*

Mikro-Gen 3 *
Terminal Software 2*

PSS J*

Mastertronic A*
Software Projects 3*

Phipps 3*

Ultimate 5*

(Rl 2*

Bug- Byte S+

Salamander 4*

DK'tronics 4+

Salamander 4#

Quicksilva 1+

DK'tronics 4*

Silversoft 3 +

Pukoilic 2*

Artk 4*

Incentive J*

Comhill 3*
Gremlin Graphics 4*

Ocean 4*

Lolhlorien 3*

Abacus 3 *

Artie 4+

A&F 3+

Atlantis 2*
Digital Integration 3*

Visions I*

Elite 1*

Automata 3*
Software Projects 3*

Artie 4*

Beau jolly 4*
Melbourne House 5*

Automata 4*

Automata 3*

Activision 3*
Gremlin Graphics 3*

Postern 3*

Ultimate 4*

Beyond 5*

Mikro-Gen 4*

Fantasy 4 *

Bug- Byte 3 +

Gemini I*

Revenge of the K . TomatoesVisions J*

Rider Virgin 3*

River Rescue Creative Sparks 2*

Rohol Riot Silversoft 3*

Rommels Revenge Crystal 5+

Sabre Wulf Ultimate 5+

Shsduwftrt Beyond 5*

Skooldaue Microsphere 5+

Scuba Dive Durrell 5*

Select 1 Computer Records 4*

Skull Games Machine 3+

Sky Ranger Microsphere 2+

Snappk Hopper Macmillan 3*

Software Star Addictive Games - •

Sorcery Virgin 4*

Space Station Zebra Beyond 3*

Spec [run Virgin 3*

Spellbound Beyond 4*

Splat Incentive 4*

Sports Hem Melbourne House 3*

Spy Hunter US Gold 4*

Stagecoach Creative Sparks 4*

Star bike The Edge 3*

Siarion Melbourne House 4*

Slop the Express Sinclair 4*

Strangeloop Virgin 5*

Submarine Strike Pulmonic 3*

Tachyon Command Century Software I *

Tank Tras Mastertronic 2*

Technician Ted Hewson 4*

Tcrrahawks CRL i*

The Guardian PSS 3*

The Pyramid

The Snowman

Therbo

3D Bat Attack

3D Lunallack

3D Seiddab Attack

3D Starstrike

3D Tank Duel

3D Tunnel

Tiler Tim

Tune Gate

Time bomb

Tobor

Tornado Low Level

Toy Bizarre

Trash man

Travel with Trashman

Traix

Tribble Trubble

Trotn

Turtle Timcwarp

Tutankhamun

Two-Gua Turtle

Underwurlde

Wheelie

Witch's Cauldron

Wizard's Lair

Wizard's Warriors

World Series Baseball

Worm Attack

Fantasy J*

(iuieksttva 4+

Arcade Software 2w

Cheeuhsofl 3*

Hewson 1 *

Hewson i**

Realtime software 4#

Real Time 3*

New Generation 5*

Mk-K»wish 3*

Quicksilva 4*

CDS 4*

Add-on 4*

Vortex 5*

Activities* }*

New Generation 5+

New Generation 4+

Qukksilva t *

Software Projects 4*

DK'tronics 24

Softuonc 2*

Micromania 4#

Lolhlorien I*

Ultimate i*

Microsphere A*

Mikro-Gen 4*

Bubble Bu* 4*

Maslertfonik : »

Imagine 3+

Pulmonic 1 *

Worse Things Happen at SeaSil vtrsoft A *

Wrath of Magra Mastervision 4*

Wriggler Romantic Robot 4*

Xadom Quicksilva 2*

Xaviur PSS Software 3*

Zenji Acti vision 4*

Zig-Z«| DK'lronieji 4*

Zombie Zombie Quicksilva A*

Business

Address Manager OCP 4*

Banker Andk Software 3*

Bank Account System K Gouldstaae 4*

Bizzicum Merlin I*

Cash Controller Shepherd 4*

Collector's Pack Sinclair 4*

Database Micml 4*

Electric Office Fisher Software 2*

Heathplanner Heath Computing 4*

Hcime Budget Kuma Computers 3*
Investment, Insurance k

Infurmalion Inform 3 *

Invoicing'Accounting Translorm 4*

Keyfile Keyioft 4*

I. it time WiJliam Stuart 2#

Masterflk Campbell i*

Micro-pen Contrast J*

MiniOrficc Database Pubs 4*

Money Manager Creative Sparks 3 *

Multi-File ISP 3*

Omnicalc Microsphere i *

Personal Banking System Hilton A #
Personal h inane.

Profile 2 McGraw-Hill 3*

Projector 1 McGraw-Hill ■< *

Sales Ledger Hestacreil 4*

Spectext McGraw Hill 4*

Spreadsheet Microl < *

Supertile Transform Ltd 3*

Tasprint Tauun Software 4*

Tasword Tasman A*

Tasword II Tuman 5 *

The Unitrusl Program Michael Stafford 3*

UNISTAT University Software 3*

Va£Track MorleyDavies 4 +

WtJfd Processor Quicksilva I #

Education

Angle

Chaiksoft

3*

Angle Turner

Arnold Whcalon

4*

Antony and Cleopatra

Akadamias

4*

Astro Maths

Scisoll

3*

Astronomv

Scisolt

2*

Biology

Longman

4*

Blockbuster

Campusound

4*

Bodyworks

Genesis

2*

Castle

I'lrisnuk-udHi

4*

Castle of Dreams

Wid»t

4*

Castle Spellerous

Sinclair

4*

conlinued on page lOti

SINCLAIR USER August 198S

107

Software Directory

Microfilms*

VO 2

4*

Wilfred the Hairy

Micro byte

1*

continued from page 107

Oe&s Tutor I

Sinclair

4*

Star Gazer

CRL

4*

World Cup Football

Artk

4*

Giown

Englcficld Software 2 *

The Guide to Medicine

Eastmead

2*

Cortes

L'Ensoulciadu

3*

Vega Table

Vega

4*

Traditional

Dinosaurs

Piper

3+

Disease Dodgers

Sinclair Research

5+

Puzzle

Arc turns

Visions

4+

Dyslexia Beater

Duniu

4*

Backgammon

CP Softwan

4*

Eiffel Town

Chalksoft

3*

Arclums

Visioni

3+

Brag

Turtle

4*

Electronic Learner's Guide

ETST

3*

ComptltaWOfd

Work Force

1 +

Bridge Master

Serin

4*

French

Longman

i*

Flix

Softricks

4*

Bridge Player

CP Software

4*

French is Fus

CDS

3*

Hare raiser

Hare soli

2*

Bullseye

Maslertromt

2*

Friend or Foe

1 .iingman

3*

Mazrcube

PAL

3*

Derby Day

CRL

3*

Viking Raiders

Firebird

3+

Stuart Henry's Pap Quiz

Beltflower

4+

Do Not Pass Go

Work Force

3*

German is Fun

CDS

4*

3D Strategy

Quicksilva

4*

Double Dealer

MFM Software

3*

Highway Code

Learning Systems

1+

Draughts

CP Software

4*

High wire
Hotline

Etlgleficld Software 2*
Chatksoft 3*

Simulation/Strategy

Mind Games
Pontoon

Oasis

Coniratl

4*

2*

Humply Dumpiv

Widget

4+

Airline

CCS

4*

Scrabble

Sinclair

5*

lukiOsi

Chalkaoft

3*

Alien

Mind Games

4+

Super Bridge

Buffer Micro

4*

Learn to Read 1-5

Sinclair

4*

American Football

Mind Games

4*

Superchess II

CP Soft ware

4*

Fight and Heat

Rose Software

4*

Angler

Virgin

3*

Superchess 111

CP Software

S*

Linkword

Stlversuft

J*

Arnhem

CCS

5*

The Turk

OCP

4*

Look Sharp

MirrOrSolt

4*

Ashes

Pul sonic

4*

Voice Chess

Aatk

S*

Matman in the T. Caves

Sinclair Research

1+

Alram

PD Visual

Yatiee

CP Software

3#

Macman's Mope Minor

Sinclair Research

4*

Marketing

3*

ZX Draught*

CF Soltware

4*

Mansfield Park

Sussex

4*

Harrington's Squash

New Gene ration

3*

ZX Rrversi

CP Software

4*

Maths

GC£ Tutoring

3+

Battle for Midway

PSS

3+

Math stills EI
MDA-PCSS

Griffin
MDA Assoc.

4*

4*

Battle 1917
Brewery

CCS
CCS

4+

4*

Utility

Merchant of Venice

Penguin Study

4*

Caribbean Trader

East Midland

4*

limit ft i

AFirmmger

4*

Mr T s Measuring Games

Ebury

4*

Combat Lynx

Durrell

4*

Assembler

Artie

3*

Mr T Meet* His Match

Ebury Software

3*

Confrontation

LotUorkfl

4#

Assembler

Royboc

2*

Musicmaster

Sinclair

3*

Confrontation Scenarios

Lothlnrien

4*

Beyond Basic

Sinclair

3#

Nineteenth C. England

Sussex

4*
4*

Conquest

Chectasoll

3*

Building Price

J Redman

3+

Oil Strike

Sinclair Research

Cricket Captain

A Hanson

3*

Compiler

Sl.ilrk

3*

Faddifigton's Garden Game Collins

4+

Dix Milk

CCS

3+

Composer

Contrast

]#

Pathfinder

Widget

4*

Fall uf Home

ASP

3+

l-'P Compiler

Softck

S*

Physics

landman

4*
4*

Fighter Pilot

Digital Inlcgraliun

5#

Games Designer

Quicksilva

4*

Physics

Sciioft

}■ lifthi Simulation

Sine lair

4*

HURG

Melbourne House

4*

Pint*

Chalksoft

4*

Football Manager

Addictive Games

4*

Keyword Extension

Timcdata

4*

Postman Pat's Trail Game

Longman

4*

Formula One

CRL

5*

F-inhiin.iK'c

New Generation

4*

Riddle of the Sphinx

Longman

3*

Full Throttle

Micromega

4*

Information Handling

McGraw Hilt

2*

Run, kabhit. Run

I ' iii^ni.in

4+

Galaxy Conflict

Martech

4*

Make Music

Buffer Micro

4+

Sequences

tirulksofl

3+

Gangsters

CCS

4*

Melbourne Draw

Melbourne House

4*

Snalfk

Longman

4*

Gatecrasher

Quicksilva

4*

Mu-nilur-'Diss.

Sinclair

4*

Spacescan

Macmillan

2*

Golf

Virgui

4*

Music Maker

BeUflower

2*

Speech Marks

Sinclair

4*

Grand National

Elite

4*

Paintbox

Prim at Plotter

4*

Spelling Bee

Image Systems

3+

Grand Prix Manager

Silicon Joy

1*

Print Utilities

Sinclair

4*

Startmdwr

Widget

4*

Great Britain Lid

Hessel

4*

Quill

Screen Machine

Gilsoft

5*

Stuart Period

Akadamias

4*

Gyron

Firebird

S#

ISP

4*

Super Ted

Longman

3*

Heathrow tnt ATI.

Hcwson

4*

Sofrafx 1-2

CP Software

4*

Teacher Data

B Faxris

4*

Howzat

Wyvem

4*

Spec. Compiler

Sottek

4*

Tense. French

Sullis

4*

Hunter Killer

I'rimk

5*

Spectre Mac.'Mon

Oasis

4*

WeathermaKter

Sinclair* Mac mtllan

4*

It's Only Rock n' Roll

K-Tel

5+

Spect rovim

Shiva

2*

Weather Station

Arnold W he alo n

4*

Match Day

Ocean

3+

Spec! rum Extended Basic

CP Soltware

4+

Wards and Pictures
Wonl setter

Chalksuft
Sinclair/Mac millan

3*
4+

Match Point

Millionaire

Sinclair
Incentive

5*
4+

Spectrum Monitor
Spectrum Sprites

Picturesque
ISP

4*
4*

Word Wbard

Longman

3+

Mugsy

Melbourne House

4*

Spectrum Super Toolkit

Nectarine

4*

Worldwide

Conflict Si Peace

5*

New Birkdale

Hornby

4*

Supercode 11

CP Software

4*

Zoo

l.'Fnroulciadu

3*

New Venture

Falcon

2*

The Comp. M, Code Tutor New Generation

4*

Language

1484

Oligopoly

Incentive
CCS

4*
4*

The Illustrator
Varitalk

Gilsoft

ITS Software

5*

3*

Beta Basic

Betasofl

5*

Olympics

CRL

3*

Vu3D

Sinclair

4*

Forth

Melbourne House

5+

Ove riurds

Lothlaricn

5*

White Lightning

Oasis

5*

Forth

Sinclair

4*

Plunder

CCS

4*

Zeus Assembler

Sinclair

5+

4&W Forth
HisoJl C

1 IK
Hiiofl

4*
5*

Red Weed

Regards to Broadway

Lolhlurien
Argus

4*
3+

Logo

Sinclair

5+

Reichswald

MW Gametwnrld

2 +

f#^H

Micro Prolog
Snail Logo

Sinclair
CP

4 +

4*

Royal Birkdaft
Scatterbrain

Ocean
Manor

4*

2*

Spec- Forth

Abcrsoft

s*

74? Flight Simulalur

DACC

2+

Adder Assembler

Adder Publishing

4*

Spec. Forth

CP

4*

Ski Star 2000

Richard Shepherd

2*

Area Radar Controller

Shadowsoft

1*

ZX Forth

Artie

4*

Special Operations

Lolhlorien

2*

Assembler Dev. Package

Mrtacomcu

5*

Practical

Spect realm
Star Trader

Runesoft
Bug Byte

3*
3*

Cartridge Doctor
EVA

Talent
Westerly

5*
2+

Asirocalc

Attrocalc

3*

Steve Davis Snuoker

CDS

4*

GraphiQL

Talent

5*

Astronomer

CP Software

4*

Slunkcr*

Beau Jolly

5*

GST Assembler

Sinclair Research

4*

luMtH

Be am scan

>*

Strike Attack

Micnomart

2*

Pascal

Computer One

4*

Car Cure

Simtiun

1*

Super- League

Cross

3*

Pascal

Metacotnco

5*

Computer Cookbook

Bug Byte

1+

Super Soccer

Winter*

1+

QL Agenda

Q-Soft

I*

Cricket Averages

Spartan CC

4-*

Test Match

Cooip. Rentals

3*

QL Cash Trader

Sinclair

5#

Design your Garden

Ulandford Press

1*

The Biz

Virgin

4*

QL Caverns

Sinclair

3*

Diet Master

Diet Master

3*

The Foreat

Phipps

4*

QL Chess

Psion

5*

Dietician

Krysoft

2*

Tmim

Hornby

4*

QL Tooltii

Sinclair

5*

First Aid

Easlmead

2*

United

CCS

2+

Quilmerge

Pilch Associates

3*

H«W Long have you got?

Eastmead

3*

Video Pool

OCP

3+

Super Backgammon

Digital Precision

2*

] Cbing

Salamander

4*

Viking Raiders

Fire bird

3*

Super Sprite Generator

Digital Precision

3*

Know Your PcrsosaJky

Mirrorsuft

3*

War 70

CCS

4#

Typing Tutor

Computer One

3*

Love Oracle

Solar Publishing

3*

Whodunnit

CCS

4#

Zkul

Talent

4*

108

SINCLAIR U S ER A ugusi 1985

Software Publishers

A & F Software, Unit 8, Canalside Industrial Estate, Woodbine Street

East, Rochdale, Lancashire OL16 5LB

Abacus Software, 21 Union Street, Ramsbotiom, NrBury, Lancashire

Abbes, 20 Ashley Close, Manor Hall Drive, London NW4

Abersoft, 7 Maesfalkn, Bow Street, Aberystwyth, Wales

Activision, 15 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London NW1

Adder Publishing Ltd, PO Box 143, Cambridge CBl 2EQ

Add-on Electronics, Units 2,3 & 4, Shire Hill Industrial Estate, Saffron

Walden, Essex CB 11 3AQ

Addictive Games, 7a Richmond Hill, Bournemouth BH2 6HE

ADS, S Brunchurth Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire P04 8RY

Alan Firminger, 171 Heme Hill, London SE249LR

Allanson Computing, 77Chorley Road, Adlingion, Charley, Lancashire

PR6 9LH

AUigata Software, 1 Orange Street, Sheffield SI 4DW

Argus Press Software, Liberty House, 222 Regent Street, London Wl

Arcade Software, Technology House, 32 Chislehurst Road, Orpington,

KcntBR60DG

Ariolasoft,Asphalt House, Suite 105-106, Palace Street, London SWlE

Arnold Wheaton, Parfcside Lane, Dewshury Road, Leeds LSI) 5TD

Artie Computing, Main Street, Brandcsburton, Driffield Y025 8RG

Astrocak, 67 Peas-croft Road, Heme! Hempstead, Herts HP3 8ER

Atlantis Software, 19 Prebend Street, London Nl

Automata UK, PO Bos 78, Southsea, Hampshire

Axis, 71 Brookficld Avenue, Loughborough, Leicestershire LEI 1 3LN

Beau-Jolly, 19A New Broadway, Ealing, London W5

Bellflower Software, 6 Rosewood Avenue, Greenford, Middlesex UB6

Bctasoft, 92 Oxford Road, Moseley, Birmingham BI3 9SQ

Beyond Software, Lector Court, 15 1 Farringdon Road, London EC1

Bridge Software, 36 Fcmwood, Marple Bridge, Stockport, Cheshire

Bridgemaster, Sandymouth, Beeches Road, Famham Common,

Buckinghamshire SL2 3 PS

Bubble Bus Software, £7 High Street, Tonbridgc, Kent TN9 1RX

Calpac Computer Software, 108 Hermitage Woods Crescent , St Johns,

Woking, Surrey

Campbell Systems, 57 Trap's Hill, Loughton, Essex 1G10 1TD

CCS, 14 I jngton Way, Blackheath, London SE3 7TL

CDS Micro Systems, Silver House, Silver Street, Doncaster, South

Yorkshire DN1 LHL

Century Hutchinson, 17-21 Conway Street, London Wl

Chalksoft, 1 7 Witlowstea Road, North wick, Worcester

ChctUhsoft, 24 Ray Street, London EC1R 3DJ

Clever Clogs, Liberty House, 222 Regent Street, London Wl

Collins, 18 20 Stephenson Wav, North Cower Street, London NW1

2RX

Collins Soft, 8 Grafton Street, London W L

Compusound, 32 33 Langlcy Close, Redditch, Worcester B°8 0ET

Computatutor, 3 Thalia Close, Gr«nwich, London SE109NA

Computer One, 32 Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 4DH

Contrast Software, Warren Road, Liss, Hampshire GU33 7DD

Cornhill Software, 1 Penrith Way, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP21

CP Software, I Glebe Road, Uxbridge, xMJddlesex UB8 2RD

Craig Communications, PO Box 46, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Creative Sparks, Thomson House, 296 Famborough Road,

Famborough, Hampshire

CRL, 9 Kings Yard, Carpenters Road, London E15 2HD

Cross Software, 72 Swanshope, Burncy Drive, Loughton, Essex

CSP Systems, 21 3 Stainbeck Road, Leeds

DACC Ltd, 23 Waverley Road, Hindlcy, Wigan, Lancashire WN2 3BN

Database Publications, Europa House, 68 Chester Road, Hazel Grove,

Stockport, SK7 5NY

Delta 4, The Shieling, New Road, Swanmore, Hampshire 503 2PE

Design Design, 1 Ashton Way, East Herrington, Sunderland SR3 3RS

Digital Integration, Watchmour Trade Centre, Watchmoor Road,

Camherky , Surrey GU 1 5 3 A J

Digital Precision, 91 Manor Road, Higham Hill, London E17

DK'tronics, Unit 6, Shire Hill Ind Est, Saffron Walden, Essex CB 1 1

Domark, 204 Worple Road, London SW20

Dorcas Software, 3 The Oasis, Glenfleld, Leicester

Dunitz, 1 54 Camden High Street, London NW I ONE

Durrcll Software, Castle Lodge, Castle Green, Taunton TA1 4AB

Dymond Software, 21 Hospital Road, Annan, Dumfriesshire DG12

Dyns vision Production Studio, PO Bos %, Lufon LIB 2JP

East London Robotics, St Nicholas House, The Mount, Guildford,

Surrey GU2 5HN

Easimead, Eastmead House, Lion Way, Camherlcy, Surrey GUI 6 5EZ

8th Day, 18 Flaxhill, Morcton, Wirral, Mcrseyside LU6 7UH

Electric Abacus, Oaklands House, Solartron Road, Famborough, Hants

Elite Systems, Anchor House, Anchor Road, Aldridge, Walsall, West

Midlands WS9 8 FW

Elm Computers, 59 Batcman Road, East Leake, Loughborough,

Leicestershire LE 1 2 6NN

Engkfteld Software, High House, Mill Street, Buxton, Norfolk NR10

5JE

Fantasy Software, Fauconberg Lodge, 27a St Georges Road,

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Fawkes Computing, 41 Wolfridgc Ride, Aheston, Bristol BSI2 2RA

Feb* Software, 19 Leighton Avenue, Pinner HAS 3BW

Firebird Software, Wellington House, St Martins Lane, London WC2

Fisher Software, 47 London Road, Buxton, Derbyshire

Fiilwood, 20 Templestowe Hill. Whitkirk, Leeds LSI 5 7EJ

Games Machine, 40 Fretheme Road, Welwyn Garden City,

Hertfordshire ALS6NU

Gamma Software, 12 Milvenon Road, London NW6 7AS

Gargoyle Games, 74 King Street, Dudley, West Midlands

Gavin Barker, 12 Fleming Field, ShottonCoLlicrv, County Durham

DH6 2JF

GCE Tutoring, 40 Brinners HiU, Widner End, High Wycombe,

Buckinghamshire

Gemini Marketing, Unit 21, Dinan Way Trading Estate, Exmouth,

Devon EXE 4RS

Gcmlime Software, 16 Ben Ledi Road, Kirkcaldy, File KY2 5RP

Genesis Productions, 30 Great Portland Street, London WIN SAD

Gilsoft, 30 Hawthorn Road, Barry , South Glamorgan, South Wales

Gouldstone, 45 Burleigh Avenue, Wallington, Surrey SM6 7UG

Granada Publishing, 8 Grafton Street, London W I X 3LA

Gremlin Graphics, Alpha House, 10 Carver Street, Sheffield SI 4FS

Griffin & George, Frederick Street, Birmingham Bl 3HT

Haresoft, PO Box 365, London NW1

Harlequin Software, 43 Osprey Park, Thombury , Bristol BS12 1 1. Y

Hartland Software, 32 Ivor Place, London NW1 6DA

Heinemann Computer Education, 22 Bedford Square, London WClB

Hessel, 15 Lythan Court, Cadwell Crescent, Snnningdale, Berkshire

Hcstacrest, PO Bon 19, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 0DG

Hewson Consultants, 56B Milton Trading Estate, Milton, Abingdon

Hildcrbay, 8/10 Parkway, Regents Park, London NWl 7AA

Hilton Computer Services, 14 Avalon Road, Orpington, Kent

Hisoft, 180 High Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LUfi 1 AT

Hodder & Stougbton, PO Box 6, Dunmn Green, Sevenoaks, Kent

TNI3 2XX

Homesiudy Ltd, Treleigh Woods Farm, Treleigh, Redmih, Cornwall

TR16 4AW

Homby Software, 21 Penfold Hill, Leeds LS150FW

Icon Software, 65 High Street, Gosforth, Tyne and Wear N E3 4AA

IMS Software, 143. '145 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, London Wl 3 9AV

Image Systems, 34 Lynwood Drive, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7AB

Imagine (84), 6 Central Street, Manchester xM2 SNS

Impact Software, 2 New Street, Cuilompton, Devon EX 15 lHA

Imperial Software, Imperial House, 153 Churchill Road, Poole, Dorset

Incentive, 54 London Street, Reading, Berkshire RG1 4SQ

Inform Software, 3 Treesdale Close, Birkdale, Southport PR8 2EL

Interceptor Micros, Lindon House, The Green, Tad Icy, Hampshire

Interstella Software, 82 New Forest Drive, Brockenhurst, Kent

ITS Software, 33 FdKOtt Road, London NW4 3SE

JK Greye Software, 16 Park Street, Bath, Avon BAl 2 TE

JRS Software, 19 Wavside Avenue, Worthing, Sussex BN13 3JH

Kemp, 43 Muswell Hill, London N10 3PN

Key soft , 6 Bruce Grove, Tottenham, London N 1 7

Kosmos Software, I Pilgrims Close. Hartington, Dunstable,

Bedfordshire LU5 6LX

Kuma Computers, 12 Horseshoe Park, Pangboume, Berkshire RG8

7JW

Learning Systems, 1 1 Warwick Court, Princes Drive, Harrow, Middx

HA1 4UB

Legend, PO Box +35, London E4 7LX

Leisure Genius, 3 Montague Row , London Will 1 AB

Lena, 10 Brunswick Gardens, Corby, Northamptonshire

Level Nine, 229 Hugenden Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

HP13 5PG

Llainlan Software, Pontybcicm, Llanelli, Dyfed, Wales

Longman, Longman Group, Longman House, Harlow, Essex CM20

Lothlorien, 56a Park Lane, Poynton, Stockport, Cheshire SK12 IRE

Macmillan Software, 4 Little Essex Street, London WC2R 3LP

Manor Software, 24 Manor Gardens, London SW20

Manx Tapes, Garey Vcg, Glen Audlyn, Ramsey, Isle of Man

Martech Games, 9 Billingburgh Road, Eastbourne. East Sussex BN20

Mastertronic, (as for Mastcrvision)

Mastervision, Park Lome, 1 1 1 Park Road, London NWS 7J[,

McGraw Hill, Shoppen Hangers Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire

continuiid an ptlgt 110

SINCLAIR USER Augttti I9SS

1 09

Software Publishers

continued from page 109

Medidata, PO Box 26, London NW9 9fi W

Melbourne House, Castle Yard House, Castle Yard, Richmond TW 10

Metacomco, 26 Portland Square, Brisiol BS2 8RZ

Michael Slatford, 3 Campden Road, South Croydon, Surrey CR2 7EQ

Micro Dealer UK, Unit 6 Marlborough Road Trading Estate, Lattimorc

Road, St Albans. Hertfordshire

Micro Wish, PO Box ] 5, Colne, Lancashire BBS 9DR

Microbyte, 19 Worcester Close, Lichfield, Siaffordshin:

M i c rucosm, 68 The Glade, Clayhall, Ilford

Micromania, 14 Lower Hill Road, Epsom, Surrey KT 19 8LT

Micromega, 2 JO/236 lavender Hill, London SW1 1

Microsphere, 72 Rosebery Road, London N 10 2LA

Mikro-Gen, 44 The Broadway, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 I AG

M matron Computing, 34 Pinewood Close, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol

BS9 4AJ

Mind Games, Liberty House, 222 Regent Street, London Wl

Mirrorsoft, PO Box 50, Bromley, Kern BR2 9TT

Monitor Software, Suite 1 1 , 526-8 Watford Way, London NW7

Mosaic, 187 Upper SlrecL, London N) IRQ

MW Gamesworld, 12 Lawnswood Avenue, Chasetown, Walsall WS7

Myrmidon Software, PO Box 2, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 7LU

Naigram Software, c/'o Soho Synth House, ISA Soho Square, London

Nectarine, 837 Yeovil Road, Slough SLl 4JH

New Generation Software, FREEPOST, Bath BA2 4TD

Newsoft, 12 White Broom Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

Oasis Software, 12 Walliscoie Road, Weston-Super-Mare, Avon

Ocean Software, 6 Central Street, Manchester MZ SNS

OCP, 77a Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire SL9 8PQ

Odin Software, The Podium, Steers House, Canning Place, Liverpool,

LI8HN

Orpheus Ltd, Unit 1 , Church Farm, Hatley St George, Near Sandy,

Bedfordshire SG 19 3HP

Orwin Software, 26 Brawnlow Road, Willesdcn, London NW109QL

Palace Software, The Scala, 2nd Floor, 27S Pentonvilk Road, London

PO Visual Marketing, Thanet House, Craven Road, London W2

Penguin, 536 King's Road, London SWIO

Phipps Associates, 172 Kingston Road, Ewcll, Surrey

Phoenix Publishing, 14 Vernon Road, Bushey, Hertfordshire WD2 2JL

Picturesque, 6 Corkscrew Hill, West Wickham, Kent BR4 9BB

Pitch Associates, 39 Rockkigh Avenue, Lcigh-on-Sea, Essex

Poster Gaines, 24 Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham RM9 5NX

Foppysoft, The Close, Common Road, Headley, Newbury, Berkshire

Positive image Software, 129 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow

Print V Plotter Products, 19 Borough High Street, London SE1 9SE

Protek Computing, la Young Square, Brucefield lad Park, Livingston,

West Lothian

Psion, 2 Hunisworth Mews, Gloucester Place, London NWl

PSS, 452 Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry CV6 JDG

Pulmonic, Warwick Distribution Ltd, 3 Standard Road, Park Royal,

London NW106EX

Q-Soft, PO Bos 90, Bam«, Hertfordshire ENS 5RN

Quest International Computer Systems, Gillingham House, 38-44

Gillingham Street, London SWI

Quicksilva, Liberty House, 222 Regent Street, London Wl

Radar Games, 53 Flavel Street, Woodsctton, Dudley DY1 4NU

RAM Writer, 3 Vumba House, 2 Cedar Gardens, Sutton, Surrey

Ram top Services, 5 Rue D'Artois, 75008, Paris, France

Realtime Software, PlWpect House, 32 Sovereign Street, Leeds LSI

Red Shift, 1 2c Manor Road, Stoke Newingtou, London N l& 5SA

Richardson Institute for Conflict and Peace Research, Depl of Politics,

University of Lancaster LA) 4YF

Romantic Robot, 77 Dyne Road, I*ondon NW6 7DS

Rose Software, 148 Widney Lane, Solihull, West Midlands

Runt soft, Chamwood House, Crossgatc Drive, Nottingham NG2 TLW

Sentient Software, Branch House, 18 Branch Road, Armley, Leeds

L512 3AQ

Scisoft, 5 Minister Gardens, Newthorpe, Eastwood, Nottingham NG16

SCR Adventures, 190 Shelboume Road, Tottenham, London

SD Microsystems, PO Box 24, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 DAE

Selee Software, 37 Councillor Lane, Cheadlc, Cheshire

Serim Software, Freepost, Dcpt SU7, PO Box 163, Slough, Berkshire

SL2 JYY

Shadowsoft, 70 Gooseacre, Chcddington, Bedfordshire

Shards, Suite G, Roycraft House, 15 Linton Road, Barking, Essex

Shepherd Software, Elm House, 23-25 Elmshott Lane, Chippenham,

Slough, Berkshire

Silvereoft, London House, 271/273 King Street, London W6 9LZ

Sinclair Research, 25 Willis Road, Cambridge CB 1 2AQ

666, POBox 190, Maidenhead, SL6 1YX

5 logger Software, 215 Beacon Road, Chatham, Kent

Soft Tech, 31 Lampits, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire

Sorrel, 5 Durward Drive, Glenrothes, Fife KY62LB

Software Cottage, 19 Westfield Drive, Loughborough, Leicestershire

LE113QJ

Software Farm, 3rd Floor. 16 Charlotte Street, tendon WJ

Software Projects, Bear Brand Complex , Allerton Road, Woolton,

Liverpool, Merscyside L2S 7SE

Spartan CC, 29 Fettham Avenue, East Moseley, Surrey KTS 9BJ

Spectadraw, 1 Cowieaze, Chinnor, Oxfordshire OX9 4TD

Spectrasoft, Capital House, Market Place, London W3 6AL

Spoof Software, 58 Railway Road, Cmision, Manchester M3| IXT

Star Dreams, 17 Barn Close, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 3EN

Startersoft, 32 Parkficlds, Chippenham, Wiltshire

Statesoft, 29 Burro wfield, Wclwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

Stell Software, 36 Limefield Avenue, Whallcy, Lancashire BBS 9HJ

Sterling Software, Garfield House, H6fS$ Edgeware Road, London, W2

Stratagem Cybernetics, 286Corbin Plate, 2E, Brooklyn, New York

11235

Sulis Software, 4 Church Street, Abbey Green, Bath BA I 1FP

Sunshine Books, 12' 13 Newport Street, London WC2

Sussex Publication, Townsend Pouishot, Devizes, Wiltshire SNIO ISD

System 3, Smith Bank House, Black Prince Road, London SEI L

Talent Computer Systems Curran Building, 101 St James Road,

Glasgow G4 0NS

Taskset, 13 High Street, Bridlington, Yorkshire YOI 6 4PR

T asm an Software, 17 Hartley Crescent, Leeds LS6 2LL

Temptation Software, 27 Cinque Ports Street, Rye, East Sussex

Terminal Software, Derby House, Derby Street, Bury BL9 0NW

Texgate, 14 Brook Lane, Corfe Mullen. Wimbournc, Dorset

The Edge, 31 Maiden Lane, Govern Garden, London, WC2E 8LH

Think Tank, 35 Wellington Road, Wimbledon Park, London SW19

Thor Computer Software, Erskine Industrial Estate, Liverpool L6 1AP

Tiriiedata, 16 Hemmclls High Road, Laindon, Basildon, Essex SSI 3

Transform, 41 Keats House, Porchesicr Mead, Beckenham, Kent

Tutorial Software, L Vilands',Gksllwch, Lane, Newport, Gweni NP1

Ultimate Play the Game, The Green, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire

LEG 5JU

Unicom Micro Systems, 312 ChartttinSter Road, Bournemouth BH8

University Software, 29 St Peters Street, London Nl

US Gold, Unit 10, The Parkway Industrial Centre, Hcneagc Street,

Birmingham B7 4LY

Vega Space Systems, 28 Watford Road, St Albans AL1 2 AJ

Virgin Games, 2 4 Vernon Yard, London Wl I

VO 2 , 9- I0A The Bridge, Walsall. West Midlands

Vortex software. Vortex House, 24 Kansas Avenue, oil South

Langworthy Road, Saiford, M5 2GL

Widget Software, 48 Durham Road, London N2 9DT

Winters, 24 Swannington Close, Qmtlcy, Doncastcr, South Yorkshire

Woosoft, 5 Andrews Close, Robertsbridge, Sussex TN32 5PB

Workforce, 140 Wilsden Avenue, Luton, Bedfordshire

Wyvern Software, 2 Princes Building, George Street, Bath BAI 2ED

ZXWORD

SOLUTION

Across

4 , Indirect

8. Kempston

9, Data area

10. Absolute

11. Break

12. Mass

14. Hundredth

15. LD

17, TV

18. Coherence
2L Skip

22, Video

23, Gray code

24, Test data

26, Mikrogen

27. Tricycle

Down

1 , Keyboard

2. Spools

}. Siructured

4. Indexed

5. Dot

6. Read rate

7. Ceelax

13. Benchmarks

16. Domestic

17. Twiddles
19, End game
2ii Linear
21. Sector
25. ADC

110

SINCLAIR USER August WS

'/ ^ — ~ ^^ JS? ■ 7 g m_ _^ £_ __£

- First company in aft U K. to introduce wHHe-uwait \
i tervlcm. How first to o ffer an international repair service. \

Z A\ I hat* corcw urTHii* a firm Itial will lw more than willing i« mMm you as to how j
E 9 in remedy your prahlfm. Tliev ore- caakd MANCOMP. nn4 >■ well as repairing :
^ foullv Specimms, err also fluile uniting in discuss vctuT problems with ■

- vdu And offer reasnnalily cheap, and (mnr* Importantly! MC1*Ct airt*s +7

l-Hll. ROGERS 'Pet* * Pnkf' !

= POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY"

; itttwrnty 1985 (Vol IV No 1)

E -♦£ Mu Spectrum biew recentrv I '«« k " to Mancomp urha lined it in *ighi A

: 9 minutes' Undlmfe than £ 10. They ■» local clued up. *nd htadlngly erfirkiii «P

r COMFLiTLRLOUJMNdHEATONS

Z DKitijT Vol 1, No-. 11

E ^ One -firm ol letf i an usually effect liny necessary repirtr over Hie coaata in

J A fcwly five rMlMtMf. Based in MBrwh*al*r, Mancomp can offer what it m

- ajquablv (he fwiesi turnaround in llie business to ptfiMiial coHri* y

CRASH MAGAZINE, JUNE 1985 r

SPECTRUM SOFTWARE HIRE

F REE MEMBERSHIP

We ofler prompt personal service,

all top titles. Send SAE for Hire

Details to:

SSH ISLJI.

21 Ch ace ley Way, Willord

Nattingriam NG11 7EG

SINCLAIR REPAIRS

Spectrum and Z)Ws repaired quickly

lor C12.50 + pans and postage. We- do

printers tool Sendrbring win fault

symptoms 1o"

TECHNICOM SERVICES

(South West)

80. Catalan Strtel, Bristol BS1 5BB

pc Tel: 093483 3460

(Closed Saturdays)

I PHONE/ SEND SPECTRUM

j FOR FREE LSTIMATES. EN C £1.60 ( U.K. I .P.M. EIRE, CJ )
j £2J0 (EUROPE & SCANWIAV1A) • NO HIDDEN
HANDLING CHARGES • 24 HOUR TURNAROUND
: ilOPEN TILL 7 P.M. MON - SAT • KEYBOARD

Qmancompltd.

Manchester M19 3JP-

Tel: 061*224 1888

data director !EK™ MTI

«, tuitr *j'0M«ir, lows*"- swiichnc.

* £IGhN.C(EJU|.lJI>CinCU|l * SHCrRMH B*rjff$W0H
IHDUIOKIH LOU**!! WH
* Burt in tonn uiwrm win vOiUME ccwraw.
• DOES HWT USE 'H
SFKIHUM £)(P*H5lOW FORT
• M FSirr-HIHi HLUU*ttD
II* jf.1.". LIRfriHF MMiliraf, llw
Uil ul mhio »i"! wrfij prcyiMK
hUT. j dun u i uifm

OmVC?ff.SStf*!rJaiMfl

- in* Mf ^ W #S" #

iin n h iwi *n mi

t in i If. ItMTlirir
£W<.a*jMHHH

FAULTS W

TKOPLE REQLilREI

EARN £10 ■ tlW P" *«**
with yum" Home Compuicr

VdJ S,A,£ fat itrmli

COMPl'TER LINK IJ.K.
U l r(«rf KtNul. Alsagsr.
snAc-w ln?ni

USE VTX SOW on Bulletin

boards, PSS «nd TELECOM

QOLD using SPECNET1

Oifwt users need spectrum to
operate) a modem. File Transfer, con-
trol chr$_ ir^nsrer la (ape, mictodrwo
ate. £5 95. Vecaion II (Auto fseodj'-
receive. Uppar/Lowor case lor Telex,

Mail Btcl E6.95.

Stephen Adams

1 Lctswin Road. London NIC TNL

Telephone: 01-354 186B

PROFESSIONAL REPAIRS

rfce cimptvtt Sinelilr Strvlet centre

H-S1 E13.SS

ZXltKrUM EH Jl

IX Inlertau Z SI 3-55

zxifiitrft»1... .., tiTSS

ZX Migrqdrlw C1T.95

ZX Spectrum E1T.S5

zx Primer £"■»

SmcliirllL , P.D.n

16K 10 4»K UBgDde E».«9

flWC 0234-21 JC*5 HOW

t IBmiur (lmufnura ■ ifflDflDl »hh»tI

. Jill mclnnw ■ Fr*F Himitn

iNhj BBC. t*WH*"f H Dm Clngni. **■ «ml fciiu?in

ZEDEM COMPUTERS LTD

Z HInillllei Red Sartorf MK40 2NH
(Trirle enqjlrles mrtlconi)

SPECTRUM REPAIRS

We- eicpefOy repair Specuums tor
£17 inclusive of parts, labour and
return postage. Speclryms up-
graded to *8K lor £34 including
posl.

R.A.ELECTRONICS

Oept SU. 133 London Road South,

LowesloM HR3 0QZ

Tel: IQSD2I 662*9

THE HOME COMPUTER SHOP

Ear the latest software tnies. Tap 5o usually always m stock Alsn keyboards.

ioyslicks+WaceiS. lighl pens. R.G.B.Modulog tor Ihs Spedrum. pfinlers. Up*

grades, 2xat push button keyboards. E3

AUGUST SPECIAL OFFER

SPECTRUM PLUS COMPUTER PLUS FREE SIX PACK OF SOFTWARE

PLUS DK'TRONICS DUAL PORT l/FACE AND QS II JOYSTICK (CI 56)

ALL FOR ONLY £142.

WAIL ORDEH CUSTOMERS PLEASE ADO C3 DO PiP

4 Roman by Rd, Northallsrlon, North Yrjrka DLT BNH

Tel: (0609) 77*1M

COMPUTER REPAIRS
IN SOUTHEND

SPfCtRUM BBC. eiFCTflQN CBMW.VICW
TiS BS inc tans. VAT arm pit

MINNIE MICRO ELECTRONICS

12 Eastern Esplanade. Southend

Tel: 0702 62033^615809

Open 7 days a Week

SPECTRUM REPAIRS

GUARANTEED SIX MONTHS

l-ipcrll. rcpjind jjid l!iDt:-ug'ii> Dvir^hfaM br P'D-
IbsotjI cmrpjlr wlfglmin i*rt) art) He gild*

lign; ltIiIM ind ill nil ll ■ I lnlt) (>ilfirmifl Ifli I

130 OS. All InetHrv*

MP ELECTRONIC SERVICES

It* Lwnl*. *Mli|, lin^— . hrlifel M1I Hi

TEL 0362 87327

SINCLAIR REPAIRS

SPECTRUM C 17.95

ZX-fll /PRINTER 14,95

mo aidiStTo: c»i

5*nd yoo nmy i*«( •"« Stio^*En or

MCE SERVICES,
33 ALBERT STREET,
MANSFIELD NOTTS.

TEL: 0623 31202^

SINCLAIR SERVICE CENTRE

Fasl repair si'yict for Sokhuti ZXBl
l«11ertiC« 1 Micrwlnw All wi.15. repairrt In
Original slandaid usmg oenuine Sandaii
spares by our HNC qusillliod iuH iyrrngr
repair costs D5 00 OUT estinutn i;su«o
a-u(DnialiHi1|f mould Iht tos1 til renjir 0*
over CW 00 All Sped rum hEytMard lamts,
E1D DO *Bhr turn round on mcrsr
Cowboys came In all stupes and Mm SO
don'l be CMght gut, una you iiml la ui wiin
1 One! dlscript«n of your dull ID'

QUANTUM

33 City Arcade Cavenlra. CV I JH),
ar pnene ctmnim (07915 7*6j?

PREMIER LEAGUE

A SUFIRB NEW Krjrjif BAU MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY GAME FDR TH£ *t* S»*EtTHUJil
AT LAST 1 A laatball gamt lor Ihc SanouB
tntlii^iast— Using ll»e FULL mr-mQirj pi yipyr
Spedrum FFAHJBFS INCLUDE Training.
Team Sslactiain Substitutes. Ha H -lime
scores Full squad rjetails. Named G.oa!
siorers. Team styles Save Game. Financial
ti'o&iems. f^-ui MANV. MANy M0RF'

STfP SKEWING - SW MKH&m
Upl 0i*r snlf - UNBl*TMLt ¥*LI2 H Et.75

E S j SOFTWARE

59 Stalnaan Raid Fntivtd MiBrtr EH J UP

15% if AT SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE GROSS COST OF CLASSIFIED DiSPLAY ADS

SINCLAIR USER Auvatl985

1U

FRSTCGnRJTRREPHIRS

= VIDEO VAULT INTERNATIONAL =
10* REPAIR SERVICES ■

■aaaai Sp K tnim*repiiredl!»r£l9.95inc.Pam.lnsuranfnindP&PNoHkJd«nE*trat. ■
■I BBC Comnwitore64.V(f 20.ftl*ri,Qn<Jt«i*iH.

B Af t you Wi w urtlh waiting meeks for your Hum? Cr.mpin.rr to be repm tram
■™ Why no* try Irw Experts, w* i>K*r a hill repair smite on any Hume Lompulrr. I

■ All repairs tarry a Ml 3. months guarantee, pi urn" *v*ry Spectrum repaired we |
send y™ a Iree gamr mttnti £5.95 fin your enjovrrienl arid pl*MliW IV

■ + While ym watlt S*rrk:* by Prof*»*au.(i*.l CimpiiHr Englncar*-
| * 3 Month' written g««rtal«c « all rtpathra.
International rapjalr cp«(u»v.

All coaaputcra *eiit by TeiaiJ order fumed around In *■ nra.
M«t Sp*rt™ai* repaired urithin 45 aaalesaitefl.
All Microe inaured lor t¥<*utbj joumrv-
Opu 7 day* a nrwk.

Srhool repair* n«d«rt«taB-*lMoaiiilB available.
Fraa aoftwar* aver* each Sp«rtni« repaired rnmwth L5 .*-■>-
Ov*r B iwara ««a*rience working with cDaapailwr*.
OMVGLNUINF- SINCLAIR PARTS USED. . *. , E

Plmne today he v«» *«*" estlnnH* or «nd your c-umputer lu u* urtlh E1.7S
(UK EIHE 1 O.M, CI.) or £6.50 (Europe ,' Scandinavia) me will rnniact y ou the
Hnw dan by phon* «f 1*1 class Mail ififjuld vmi r*-«ulre quotat^n ftrsi ^M
TRAOF ENQUIRIES MOST WELCOME. ACCESS WEUOMI.UCiJ

VIDEO VAULT LTD L>pi 91 THE L0GKA1 i HOK I

■
I

I

I
I

I
I

I

Telephone- Glnw«ip (STD (1457+1 tifeSSS.

140 Hs'jh Si, \l'«i, Eiiossup. lierhyvliirr. E.ngla

cOLorrz Ese*« wo* wc arcine eama with 1 1

lunm. Climb ropes, dfM»»o bullBla. aaercJillnriti
Wld ous>d* ind collect OOltf bare. Sflnd f4 [d
PSYCM50FT, 134 BarrOwsat™ RDsd, Chlswlca,. Lon-
bcnvY4,«QP

SfMOUS UHIUAS wort Our, b«a practialy w'lh
Settlsr' 30 diftsrtni beta -niiudmg ■*=" w *r,
tuocr hc-iM. »*n«*e i*.95 M Wood, 23 Henliy
Clnin, Ne«0rt. W-.rra! Ltd 05Q Uu on UK Spec-
trum.

JU>VtMTUflERS NEtP HtXP an Valkyrie 1?. Fanti-
«,■ Diamond, Aflrtniuroland. The K*r Trilogv.
■•■ran Upata.l. Invincible Island. HOuhii. Mission
Impossible. Send SAE and &0p. The AovMuurer.
Croroar, Hint. Pirk. Paulson. Bnatol 851* SL«

I SKCTRUil CLUB Onlv I5JB "'• ">•">■

tip ind fait jet yiM* flr»t game 10 i*nt Frea.

flwrl froni 50-CI»|t "rrta now. Zehtmm 4*. PO
BdiM. Ridlen. M»n( WDT 7LX. Or 1*1 H*dlnn MPS
Fof dpljih

TVtE CHEAKST SMCTRUM mHwa'e in ih» UK.
F'or ED(lV>*f« Club mamborjhip. Hfl(jKt4arwiHln'-
■ry loonnaliyl ?*hr. Don'l d4t tUsp orKB*. &a£ In
BrBirriklin. 11 P«ri Hill Road. London £J JED.

-aOXMS' AftGJWe «K Sptarum, 7 plivtri gami
indudat dflmo, pur<:l«s. 3D rina, Jiar ir-.cndlv.
OKI. Ilm» colour, lound, only «'^ 06. (and chKwa'
PO u> flradtay Clultprt. B€ RaHlagh Oirdem, lllnrd.

e*«i hjt iff.

OL C0M*UTEN complrl* w<1ti ill manual* and
DMiKlr.Mwa. Alirj pile <H rfi<*V«nt mngBainBt and
■eim iibnnn tooVi L-i'le NtHd f.liQ Hcadino
B7*TH

«K SPtCfRUM L*a,n «aal IjsvtKhprd, MriBrlaca Oft*,
rnierorlfivn fclphBao^ 3? p'mler. Kuripilnn |*y»-
Ikh .m«rfau. inrrna.U 14)1 for ttSO. HotBrt CUn-
ranaharn. S fia>nl Juraepha T»rri£«, CgrnckTMroet.

Cc Monag?iar., Ireland

INT5H»*tE TWO PIUS UUatlCSMOT H toyctldt HKl
BtmfY BOM ■nfnrara, All in jom) candidal WI4
««rt(ln« ard«r. Phon* WS? 4*1568 jflar ft.30 (Wl.

KM SALE SKCTBUMKE*Kl*Ml-S-sgj 1 Eiripater
mtl R«s»1 !«<!;* ami two en!*' k"V" £*0ana Tel

01 J» rssi

£1 10 WOflTH Of &AM6& Hnr J*K SofKiiiiufP NM Oi.
Ail rrccnl mhw*'* Arde to Richard B»rlnui. U
ChhiviIhi Road, taltwfl. ScunBn*rp*. Suvllh H«im
ber«d>, ON 17 tfS

SPeCTHUM «K ■ PBHUTEH lapd das*, manuiti,
aDoiTed acrfwa**. aaprow vi*luB E2W. V^ur* ' Q r
C150dniS Raifl tvrnirintafi (CMOJ 7F319 »«a. (nr Mr
Jan EK*

NEXT II Tht migarine devoned miiraly Id thu
ZXB1 fleviawn, primrimi, poiljit an* ks1» man.
Send l**fl* SA£ ■ncTtl.OOfaiMWP. ?« HyntMFDDir
Raad, T*ptoy. BaMngxlaliE, Harm. nGW BSK.

HWVTS AMD POKES ISSUE I ova ilatH* now Appran
rOO name* «0V*rad par laaue. P'U&i for your moat
original Sips. Hnr I1.U 1 1.35 CurDpel 10 M & D
SeHTi**a (SUI 1 JM AaJilpn Old Roid. H^har Open
ihm» Manc;h«1er Mil UG.

WMTTEAJ AH MARKETABLE MACHINE COOE
.jlil-H-.'APV'Arcadc prografil l*l*l»? 11 ao lend in
.l»nc» in eachaiigie tor royaltia* 1o - Dicllal
Oe»lflnt, IS! Marmian A**. Chingford. Landan
Tel 6l-*2a <1?«B

MASSIVE ADVENTURE 6*M£ JliO - iDcanmn*.
feHura* include corhba: ivsinm, random mr>ni-
Btw. M^e and load 1*Cilfly. uridar^aaid» OiWJi
msrtft aand fJ.M le HO Snyfiwaro, & Hanjlay
T «raca Spenrrvneor. Cayniy Durham

PAf A&HEIT RECOUP - SORTING PH.OOHAM and
flujtaiuit ward-prn«*tO' pro*ram. SlMfAllUTl 4Bti
m-dnve, maaiy *Blll*l*d tliltamera *Otl**»rJa
Only «95 aach, .1* P*P Dolaila? SAE to PB
Sohwana. S BaaMtnMHKt Bo*al, ChlpDBn4«m, WJH-
ahire. S**U OEZ.

ATATRTTK9 PACKAGE m«nu rjnyan. W options.
DYB-a'jei. iianda-nt devttlioni, CQrrnlaliom. t>TK>-
miaJ. hi*ti3gran», multiple raoraiian, anatyil*
uajaaWBa pint, ate. Spacthim *BK £3.99 a< SAE
deui't. «PH Software. 10 £«too« Way. ChUf-
chdawn. Glot-coalei

WOULD SEHISS tflJCKET. Cilt'l»in fc-ng'and ana net
«nl Indies or WorM XI lnsm«n SPEECH fa.96.
Alto ABGQ full 4SK nrJvtntura. Help Iha ijiaoruiuti
ftndlhe golden H**MtS». *BK SpoclTirrn Boaart,
Sonh, Dyt«l

SERIOUS USERSI EraUife af (."■•*' 3D bunricii'
uuliiy wlfla lar Specljum 4BK on -j" 1 Vu ca! iniMrl-
Ce SeiMl fl iRefnHiit fifM sra*rS [o SOMiao-
5yiHjma (SUL PO Boa S*. Hilcliir., Harti SAE 1or
liajt only

SPECTRUM 4*K. Joymick ind minrf ace, lape tncOr-
dtf ov«r So oarnes. 90 nujanlnani, all still boned
KWUlh fSfltl lor CtMhino. Sknliaifl B74SM lA"v
l.ipn«? win deliver Gla*OOW araai.

OL F0<t SAUt with coVB*. Cut) monilar (maiall IS
boatwl cjrrridaos. 3 aof1w»«t boaai. All only 1
monSM nld and im*ar yp*rr*JMy, olfara £100 below
•hop pnoa. TH! >DT3Se 71*35

4TJK SPECTRUM IlKtrnnica fcoybOaJ-n Cheetah
EweelalliFr. Riilfflnitt w»1»rlri™. >i> walnn »p(^o>:
l'Ju rrngariiaB. upprox 1 1 cananat, IW recoriter
■nd leads, tiffera? Write J.Evsin fj'o Arundel Am,
Flixton, Lhrriiinn. Mancheater

FULLER FD SPfCtnuM taybward far tala. Unuaed,
tulty wurkihg. t^pturn manv airvgla aey lunctiana.
ruraora etL t«» rm'ds Spoclmm inierface. PSU,
wrtli nn/arf iWilch £30oriii T»l' (Frank! G23*

nxm

SPtCTWJH W ' INTEraTAffl I B«Hhrr HP5
ptinrUr, 2 micradnvea, 20 cartnalgfHL tranalprn-i
tun Soflw*in include! TannMXlt Two. Hail MdrO,*,
Miller Fim. Omniurlc I and Sryla iVrflar & gamei,
only £2»?i 1ha lot Tal: B1-5*S WOfl.

MAGAZHE OF TIPS ND 2. Hundred* of lip* *""
potiea on Hi lie latea! osfri*t Itla Minder. Shadow-
F-re Ba*«CKIII and hunrtr«ll mora, eend Wp and 4
ttamp 10 /HOnacpl 15U;. tl H«Bd*lan* L*n»,
Harrow Mirtdleaer. HA? WW

POOLS PREDICTION

Outputa beral dcawi. tuxiias ondawftya Poaajres

araaMcal rmw nncap. Prm* laam Irgm jajmpan-

pan araprai AnaJyaea and Qfaphs ratiUta awary

w*« TaMa.fL4acy»urri0findwaaaoafflaaand

■Cup" maichei bstv^en mam league taonK

PrwrnMOfi relaoattjn option (Can t« used 1r-m

aeauwn to Beaton > Eaxy to u3S, aven tor begir-

nets T40 latdly dnlehaie 'aqwrajd Oivaa paper

pnrrlout c* pradiclieina if faourW

fiiA\ &Bjek-up a#TV!&* Ail custc-rrteifl latlera

aixnnred (ifompfly

36 win* (ZSJ dhndaeida, nscetaad 0* PU*lpr Hi

lav

■The uj In* bait and rnosi acirsniihc ol any

proflram I ham aaeti- -Mr BAP (Secretary.

OnaVplDn ComoUnl' Ca*l

'Once again, IhBTlfc yw 1pr one at Hi* bast

irmaarasntl I twy* mada>- - Mf D.L9. (Ff*aan)

MwraikJ»>a10K«igra^lalByouoPyojri«caaaail

aarvtoa - * a a rans aang Iheea c*ir»" - ** LQ .P

.C-'nrw^l- ■'•■•

RACING PREDICTIONS

An ea*y Id use pieOVSOr. by the same auirasr. 1nr
Bn* Hal ■*£**) MBHn No knowte<Hja Of ratine.

■aquM

input infornujim Irmn any SBJly nearapapor
Howjr, 4«1a an draw advantage and ground

cendmona tor 3T taniiah ccuriae
SoH-laacnHie; pfOfp*™ « newer aul-uf-date

Aak*af;BWa«*lP00l!l fllW

AumralujnPpal EH*

fUlRacmo C11.M

Alta* 7 day* tea deavery. Chaquff . P O's pay-

afilf lo Ftcmbeit 0- quCeV Acorn, EurOEaf d or

UHtarcaid

OvorseaB coslumfira pleaae add Hi far P^P

ROMEJclST, Dept SU,

I Welland Crott, EtlcBalBf .

Oxim., OK8 8C0-

T*Hi (0«&> !4MC2.

A«ailablt- lor «K Sp«trum.

Corrmwfloi* ft* nwnon available aoon.

SEVEN STABS
COVER THE SPECTRUM

GENEH-80 is Ihe ulb-alasl (3000
lines m '0 sacs!) assembler wrhn a
superb lull-sawn edttO* C7.S5
MOOER-ftO is a handy mcoilor^dis-
assennhlt>f with a buiN-in Trani-aa-
sembler £5-S5

PHOFILA rs a Zi80 dCttvrty ptolitef
(48K o* Plus). Bar-chart shows ihe
"botttenecka" m youf Basic ^^1 mfc
programs £4.95

TASPflO enables Tasword T*g to
lustily using equal spaces be»v*een
words! Please state your printer and
interface. £4.95

Fast mail order (Efface add CI,
airmail add £2> Selected pfoducts
also v*a rAcfone! 800 Dealers
welcome Leaflet an request.

Sewn Stars PuNrfMw* (Dept U),
34 S»arrtl Km. Marinr, lwiua.7lr1l

MOUDAV PROORAMHERS. Compeinnl * 180
aaaaanbly lanouasie wrrri graphic *es:on .nivretl
Office wwrL kh^Wid in London hi CDr-lwl M
SmrMi, ModkS&m. 11 0»ritwni Sf , lalingtun, Londen

SWAP ZX*1 Spactrum m Cornmodnfo lapo* ei«n
from one Iyp*m another biy chgioa Irom 50p Buy
below |iel< put* SAE tot Hat, AP. *aViciatla Straei,
Slackbu-K BP1 SDN

MAKE YOUR MONEY GROW
£££ Gains of over 307* E££

'WHICHTRUSr

Investmenl program evail^Wa for

BBC - Etecrjon - 4flK Spectrum

QL- CkimrnodorB 64

Analyse different Irusls from over 1

year s riaia. Program ts me*Hii dm«n

shows progness charts, bar charts.

indicates when lo buy & sell units.

Send lor detail! to:

DATA COMPUTING
SYSTEMS

25 Denny View, Portlshesd,
Bristol BS7Q BBT

SKCTRUM WE fat lata. With AD upaa, fX'tromca
aayooarda Would lika fl» PSaia pMMia «1 JM

Advertisement Index

ACSSoftware 102 Looic Sales .......

m

Anirog

IBC

Betasnfi 62 K'™^"

Micron et

Cambridge Micro Electronics 76

Capital Computers 66

CP Software 57

Crass Soltware 99

Cumana 29

Mann Tapes , 62

102

90,91.105

MikroGen ... 49

Mirage Microcomputers , 40

Modem House 23,12

Monolith 65

Mr Software 4

PERIPHERALS SEIKOSHA SPlMA PHNTEFf Tea
man inl*rfacn and misroiUjl £140. hnlmipan £11.
layitu-k .r-mrfica HO, alto aoftmarc. Tflru«)r{| [a,
VU-10 ES. Taolfcrt Efl. Piinrtbgi C6, Tol kMdlow
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tfK.Kr.aa0. yuuraa Draaf. 7S-3T39KS. tWHaadat,
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Datasiar ■■ - 2S

Data Distributors 33

Datel 66

Domarli - — 67

East London Rabotics 87

EifJersott 25

Electronic Maintenance

Services 14

Euro Electronics 74

Eve-snam 102

Firebirg Software 21

Fox Electronics 94

Frel 74

Gargoyle Games 44

GCETutorinfl .... 76

Glen Top Publishing 25

Goodbyte S3

Gremlin G rap flics 34.35

Hewson Consultants 27

National Software Library 48

New Horizon 51

Ocean 36

Opus Supplies . ,, 50,38

Radolin ... 58.59

Ram Electronics 42,43

Romantic Robots ,. 51

Rotromcs 73

RSD Connections 96

Saga Systems 41

Selec 14

Simitron 88

SMT.. 40,48

Spectrum Holdings 66

Speedy Soft 30

Talent 12

Tasman Software 70,71

Tec Publications 23

Ttietford Micro . .62

Thoughts 8 Crosses 88

Transform 68,72

Imagine .-■ 0BC

IT'S 99 US Gold

18,19

Kempston

Lbnti

IPC Vortex 63

88 Walkers Computers 99

112

SINCLAIR USER Augm 1985

r.™

Ever sent off a cheque for the Latest software and the goods never arrived? Or rushed home with your

brand new computer only to find that it didn't work?

Well it's not tough luck because theme are a number of laws to protect you,

Next month we'll te II you what they are.

All this and more in next month's Sinclair User,

Reach an estimated readership of over 200,000 users per month for as little as £5.00* (ine VAT)
Or if you are starting your own small business advertise in the supermart for only £17. DO (ine VAT)
Yes all you have to do is fill in the coupon below including your name, address and telephone number
andsent to: Supermart, Sinclair User, EMAP, Priory Court, 30-32 Farrmgdon Lane, London EC1R 3AU
Maximum 30 words. Your advert will appear in the earliest possible edition ,

m

Name ...
Address

.Tel:

Have you included the fee of £5.00* or £17.00?

Make cheques payable to EMAP PUBLICATIONS LTD

'for second hand sales only

»*«r llM ,rt,rti* ti# KcioiBd ujbiKi <**»r<*ji el copy ind lo ih* rijhi or A* AdHrtiigiwi; wtiwm i"i< fin« w cincm *>t fl^tf rni+t mitHm a
tmmt »>mw ivn do [In, micuH fcrt"li|» If finlt'i' »"ori

,. IS **»**« »h>«'*riMWf* irVK*Wir» in niipact nH in Cteim, coir infl UJmmi viMrvwil 9' **V I4*U9V » minoDiii iFvinr . •

SINCLAIR USER ^afiwtt ;9S5

113

MAXWELL
SAVES THE
UNIVERSE

ROBERT MAXWELL,
who owns the world's
favourite newspaper,
has been acclaimed a
national hero. He has
coma to the aid of
another great British
asset, boffin Sir Clive
Sinclair.

Maxwell stepped ifl to save

Slugger's company, generous-
ly paying EI 2m for the pri-
vilege of helping to make Bri-
tain great again.

Toe bouncing Czech's
knowledge of commuters and
programmes is legend. A stun-
ned world listened as Max-
well, speaking on BBC Radio
4, dearly pronounced the

word 'software 1 , saying Sinc-
lair's wis 'cxccllcm 1 . He also

JUST GOOD FRIENDS: Clive and Bob

praised other inventions from
'Sinclair Electronics', includ-
ing 'the telephone . . . and
many other things.'

Slugger himself, a one-time
associate of Maxwell's, said he

was very pleased. In a recent
\(uii' i in Sumlav ankle he said;

"I have suffered a great deal
from ineptitude" 1 . Mow Cap'n
Bub is a! the helm, that will
change. Any further such arti-
cles arc unlikely to appear

anywhere other than in your
own value-fur-money Big-3

BuigO Sunday AiurtT.

OH WHAT A
PUNCH-UP!

BRITAIN faces a violent
summer, as software
houses prepare to do
battle with games
based on boxing.

Gremlin Graphics enters the
ring with Hocro, licensed
from Spanish comapny Dina-
miL. Gremlin has changed the
name from Rocky after MGM

complained. Apparently the

INCORRUPTIBLE

Scolding gazes

Editor

blankly at a Commode 64 with karate champ Jeoff
Thompson. He's waiting for Melbourne House to
return his grubby corduroys from the launderette-

graphics make Sylvester Stal-
lone's acting look like the pro-
duct of a ZX-8C .

Meanwhile, the Kindergar-
ten responds with Frank Bru-
no's Boxing, also based nn
arcade game Punch Out! The
kids at Eile reckon Big Frank
can lay the Span.is.ti challenger
cold on the canvas inside three
nmnds.

Ttie only winner appears to
be Silvcrsofu which thought it
bad the rights to Rocky until
Dinamk revealed the deal
with Gremlin Graphics. Sii-
versoft has thus retired from
the ring to promote Satanism
with its new game Baal, a
vicarage tea party compared to
the fight game scene.

ROBSON:Over the top?

DOUBTS have been cast
over England Captain Bryan
Robaon's commitment to the
game after he failed to turn

up for a fixture at Hamieys
toyshop in London 1 ! Regent
Street.

Il seems he was ilouhje-
bouked, which sounds like
l"L"l-A's latest ploy to combat
English Soccer violence.

misses
game

Bryan wis supposed to be
launching Bryan Rofaaon't
Super League, a computer-
moderated board game. The
game is unique, acccmling to
publisher Paul Lamond Ltd,
because it uses the computer

to 'heighten excitement'.

All nthcr computer board

games use the computer |o
bore people to death.

■■*■

PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH: Our boys are
ready for anything.

MAJOR-GENERAL 'Quickshot II' Goodman prac-
tices zapping Russians with Durr ell's Combat
Lynx. Watch Qui Gorbachev — you're next.

Good luck!

SVELTE, laid-back Rob
Cameron, long- suffering
advertising manager for Sinc-
lair User, is leaving.

All his friends — inert are
at least Two — wish, bun well
as he prepares la set Gam-
bridge an fire with burning
promotional literature ,

Rob is replaced by Louise
'WPC Fantharpe, whose
Mtfl voice and severe Iwin-

aets have long graced the
office In <«b«r pottoon*.

Hermit

PAUL DUFFY, the
peripatetic hermit, ex-
GOSH. ex PRISM has
gone to where the ac-
tion is and joined Mir-
rorsoft.

Omuu'ouaty, the latest
press release says: "You
could throw this sheet away,

hut you might lose touch
with Mirrorsofl for ever! 1 '
His the curse of the Silent
One already struck P

SHOULDN'T HAVE.
THOUGHT YOU NEEDED
A COMPUTER TO
DETAIL>OURGOOD
JOINTS BUT... DO

COME IN

FQREPLAY: Clive ogles Jane.
MIRROR sweetheart Jane learns the Basics from
friendly Uncle Clive. During the course of the
lesson, she manages to loss all her clothes.

114

SINCLAIR USER August 1985

Every pilot has

the dream of

flying one of

these unique and

complex fighting

machines. Here is your chance to do what few pilots have the

privilege to try.

Depending on your skill, confidence and courage, you have the

choice of remaining near the landing pad, learning to hover

and land, or venturing higher to practise your approaches.

When you think you have mastered these, then accelerate the

Jump Jet into an attack fighter. Use the radar and range finder to seek and destroy the

enemy, by launching heat-seeking air-to-air missiles. Beware! His radar and missile

systems are as good as yours. Reckless pursuit is ill-advised: you must maintain a fuel

level that will enable you to relocate and return to the aircraft carrier, executing the

skills you have learned to achieve a successful landing.

You are now ready to proceed to the next skill level to face additional hazards, such as

unpredictable swell and treacherous cross-winds.

Be warned, this program is not a toy or game. You will need to co-ordinate your hands,

eyes and mind to successfully complete each mission. Do not hope to achieve in a

short time that which took the author three years to learn as a Jump Jet pilot, and

over a year to record on this computer program.

TRADE ENQUIRIES: ANIROG SOFTWARE LTD UNIT 10 VICTORIA INDUSTRIAL PARK VICTORIA ROAD DARTFORD KENT (0322) 92S13/8
Mail Qniar: S HIGH STREET HORLEY SURREY 24 HOUR CREDIT SALES HOflLEY 02034 6083 Paymant by: P.O. ACCESS VISA

The officially e idorsed version
of the No. I a p cade game by

Kjon ami

Available^ Continuing the challenge ^^
A/OlVwhere Track and Field' left off. NOW

Ilmagkn* Software Is available from : 'jS/^j . "■ H c M ■ TH ^ ^IJ-LMAJ Mill WHMKMKKKfH hskt s ftumtwIows O — i t , , Spectrum Shoes and all <aood dealers.
Imagine Software (1984) Limited- 6 Central Street- Manchester- M2 BMS-Tel : 06 1 834 3939